Iraqi PM promises recovery of stolen tax money by officials

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office announced on November 27 that it will recover part of nearly $2.5 billion in funds embezzled from the country’s tax authority in a massive scheme involving a network of businesses and officials.

As the Associated Press reported, approximately 182 billion Iraqi dinars (approx. $125 million) of the stolen sum will be recovered through the seizure of properties and assets belonging to a well-connected businessman complicit in the corruption scheme.

The amount retrieved was disbursed to Noor Zuhair Jassim, a businessman who was arrested in connection to the scheme along with officials from the government tax authority for withdrawing funds from a tax deposit account between September 2021 to August 2022.

Prime Minister al-Sudani clarified that the ongoing investigation would not spare anyone involved in the scheme and that the government was working to recover the full amount stolen.

Jassim was arrested in late October at Baghdad International Airport. He was named as the CEO of two of five shell companies through which the funds were stolen. According to an internal audit seen by AP, Jassim obtained over $1 billion from the account.