20 arrest warrants have been issued so far for those accused of “theft of the century,” and there is

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[size=52]20 arrest warrants have been issued so far for those accused of “theft of the century,” and there is no date for trials[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan[/size]
[size=45]Officially, arrest warrants on the grounds of what is known as the “theft of the century” reached about 20 officials, while none of the accused has yet been tried.[/size]
[size=45]According to the Integrity Committee, other lists may be issued later against those accused of theft, which was estimated at about 4 trillion dinars, as investigations are still ongoing.[/size]
[size=45]The last list of those involved included former Finance Minister Ali Allawi, who is the first official of this level to be accused of theft, which is not known exactly when it occurred.[/size]
[size=45]Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani had announced earlier the recovery of less than 10% of the total amount stolen and the escape of most of the accused abroad.[/size]
[size=45]And late last Saturday night, the Integrity Commission announced the issuance of arrest warrants against 4 officials in the previous government of Mustafa Al-Kazemi, including Minister Allawi, who left Iraq 6 months ago.[/size]
[size=45]The Commission’s Investigation Department stated, “Following the emergence of new evidence indicating the involvement of a number of other figures in the previous government in the crime of stealing tax secretariat amounts, the second Karkh Investigation Court, which is concerned with integrity issues, issued arrest warrants and investigations against (4) senior officials in the previous government.” .[/size]
[size=45]In a statement issued minutes before midnight, the authority stated that “arrest and investigation orders were issued against each of: the Minister of Finance, the director of the Prime Minister’s office, the personal secretary of the Prime Minister, and the political advisor to the Prime Minister in the previous government.”[/size]
[size=45]And she continued, “The orders issued; Based on the provisions of Article (316) of the Penal Code, it came against the background of the accusation of facilitating the seizure of tax secretariat amounts, pointing to the issuance of orders to seize their movable and immovable funds; Based on the provisions of Article (184/a) of the Criminal Procedure Code.[/size]
[size=45]This is the third set of arrest warrants issued by the commission since the theft was exposed at the end of last year, but so far none of those involved have been brought to trial.[/size]
[size=45]On this, Bassem Khashan, a member of the Parliament's Integrity Committee, says, "The investigations are still ongoing and may take some time until the trials are conducted."[/size]
[size=45]In an interview with Al-Mada, Khashan believes that the latest list, which included Al-Kazemi's government officials, "is not final, and other indictments will be issued at a later time."[/size]
[size=45]The first batch of those involved included the most prominent suspect in the case, Nour Zuhair, who is circulating information about his travel to a European country, along with 3 other owners of commercial companies.[/size]
[size=45]Last month, Al-Nazaha said that it had issued new recruitment orders against 12 officials of the General Tax Authority, on charges of facilitating the seizure of tax secretariat funds.[/size]
[size=45]The head of the commission, Haider Hanoun, who assumed the position after exposing the theft to public opinion, had hinted earlier at the start of the first trials for theft of the century.[/size]
[size=45]Hanoun said at the beginning of this year that January 12, "will witness the first trial of theft of the century," while he refused at the time, in press statements, to mention the name of the person involved in the trial.[/size]
[size=45]At that time, information leaked out that Haitham al-Jubouri, the former head of the Finance Committee, would be tried on that date, but what happened at the time was that he was released on that day (January 12).[/size]
[size=45]After that, al-Jubouri's accusation of being involved in stealing the century was retracted after he handed over 4 billion dinars to Integrity.[/size]
[size=45]Did Zuhair flee to Europe?![/size]
[size=45]The head of the Finance Committee and the former government advisor was released on bail, as was Nour Zuhair, who is leaking information about his current presence in Belgium.[/size]
[size=45]According to the Integrity Committee, Zuhair is still under house arrest, while the government had lifted the previous seizure of his property.[/size]
[size=45]He justified this measure by saying that it would make it easier for the accused to sell the property and return the money to the government, as Zuhair paid about 400 billion dinars out of a trillion and 600 billion, according to the Karkh court.[/size]
[size=45]The judiciary, with the intervention of Al-Sudani's office, according to Hadi Al-Salami, another member of the Parliament's Integrity Committee, decided to release him on bail.[/size]
[size=45]Zuhair, who is a front for a number of companies involved in the theft and negotiated on their behalf, owns more than 60 real estate properties in Baghdad under his and his family's names, according to the Integrity Committee.[/size]
[size=45]The most prominent suspect in the incident had paid sums in two installments, but the total did not reach 10% of the value of the total amount stolen, which the government believes is subject to increase.[/size]
[size=45]Last month, the prime minister said, "The stolen number is not fixed, and we contracted with an international company to audit."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sudani added, in an interview with state television, that "the accused, Nour Zuhair, distributed his money to a group of influential people, including politicians and media figures, as well as banks."[/size]
[size=45]In subsequent statements, the prime minister confirmed that most of the main suspects "fled and contributed to getting the money out of Iraq."[/size]
[size=45]Nour Zuhair, according to the Integrity Committee, had smuggled 10 million dinars daily from the Rafidain Bank, in which the famous theft took place, and traveled with a diplomatic passport 21 times.[/size]
[size=45]The incident took place at an uncertain time, as it is believed that the beginning of the theft of tax secretariat funds began before 2018, and those amounts participated in financing two election campaigns (2018 and 2021).[/size]
[size=45]Information sources had leaked to (Al-Mada) earlier about the involvement of armed parties and factions in the incident, which prompted coverage on some aspects.[/size]
[size=45]Arson![/size]
[size=45]Another member of the Integrity Committee, Hadi al-Salami, says that Shaker al-Zubaidi, a former tax director, had “burned computers and files in the commission in 2020 to cover up the thefts.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Salami believes, during his conversation with (Al-Mada), that "Al-Zubaidi, who was then transferred to the Customs Authority, had started the first theft operations."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Salami added that the latter: «has argued that the fire occurred due to an electrical short circuit, but investigations have shown that the accident was caused by an actor and that it was caused by benzene».[/size]
[size=45]Al-Zubaidi, who was deported from customs at the end of last January and is believed to have been transferred to the insurance company after that, had been interrogated and there is no information about his arrest so far.[/size]
[size=45]The Commission of Inquiry, a sub-committee of parliamentary integrity, had interviewed more than 30 people to investigate the theft of tax money.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Salami, commenting on the latest list of the accused, believes that the former Finance Minister, Ali Allawi, "was neglected in his work and did not conduct thorough investigations of the theft."[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, Representative Salem Khashan says, "Allawi may be an accomplice to the crime, and his resignation and his subsequent escape are evidence of his involvement."[/size]
[size=45]Allawi, who submitted his resignation last August, had spoken at the time about "secret networks of senior officials" working in the shadows to "control entire sectors of the economy."[/size]
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