Why Outside Investors Are Not Pouring Into Iraq.

[Luigi1]

Here's an article of Dinarian interests...

Why outside investors are not pouring into Iraq.

Corruption is still out of control at all levels.

The Total Looted Funds Are Estimated At $450 Billion.

We could be waiting a long time for theis RV-RI tpo come through.

Treat as a rumor. Not verified.  Your opine.

 

 

 

Tlm724 Administrator Bondlady’s Corner:     The Total Looted Funds Are Estimated At $450 Billion USD.

ARTICLE: The Iraqi government is working to strengthen cooperation with international organizations concerned with combating corruption, such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Police (Interpol) & a number of countries in order to develop Iraq’s capabilities & institutions concerned with eliminating corruption, according to a report by the Turkish Anadolu Agency.   Iraq is ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world, in the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index issued by Transparency International, as it ranked seventh in the Arab world & 157th globally out of 180 countries on the organization’s list.

 

Iraq maintained that rank for several consecutive years. Separate figures indicate that the total looted funds exceed $300 billion, while last year’s media reported that the total figure is $360 billion, while parliamentarians estimate it at $450 billion.

 

Last year, the Iraqi Tax Authority accused 5 private companies of stealing more than 2.5 billion USD from the authority’s funds, in coordination with a number of employees in the Ministry of Finance, which makes it classified as the largest theft in world history & the stolen funds were deducted by companies & individuals who have projects with the government or by importing goods, by paying them 10% of the total amount, which will be recovered after the completion of the project.

 

Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani placed the fight against corruption at the top of the priorities of his government program & immediately after assuming office in October of last year, he began to take steps towards bringing the corrupt to justice.

 

Not only that, but he tried to recover the stolen money, in addition to coordinating with some countries to extradite the wanted persons through the International Police (Interpol).

 

With the birth of any new government, the new prime minister takes steps & measures to form a body or a supreme committee to combat corruption that ravages state institutions, including the security, military, judicial & oversight institutions.

 

However, the level of anti-corruption momentum soon declines after weeks or months & the remedies are limited to a narrow range that does not affect the heads of corruption, including senior political & official officials.

 

The Supreme Commission for Combating Corruption In mid-November, the Prime Minister’s Office announced the formation of the “High Commission for Combating Corruption.” In the commission’s formation statement, the office announced that it aims to “combat corruption in accordance with the ministerial curriculum (the government program) & with unconventional mechanisms that bypass previous negatives,”

 

in order to “accelerate the confrontation of major corruption files and recover those wanted in corruption cases & abused public funds.”

 

The Sudanese government faces a number of challenges in its confrontation with the corrupt.

 

Some influential forces, whether armed or political parties, exploit their influence in state institutions through officials in high positions for more financial gains.

 

In addition, the influence of the influential forces operating outside the framework of the official security institutions contributed in some way to the expansion & spread of corruption, while acknowledging the difficulty of holding the senior corrupt accountable, or controlling their money & properties or ways to obtain them.

 

Recently, The Iraqi Government Issued International Arrest Warrants that included a number of former officials residing outside Iraq in the framework of what is known as the “theft of the century”, which exceeded $2.5 billion, stolen from “tax secretariats” with illegal cash withdrawals during the years 2021 and 2022.

 

The arrest warrants target the director of the office of the former Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, the former head of the intelligence service, Raed Jouhi, the private secretary of Al-Kazemi, Ahmed Najati, the former Minister of Finance, Ali Allawi & the former media advisor to Al-Kazemi, Mashreq Abbas.

 

The head of the Federal Integrity Commission, Judge Haider Hanoun, said that all those wanted in the “theft of the century” are no less than 100 billion Iraqi dinars ($77 million) in acquisition . Accused”, most notably an Iraqi businessman named “Nour Zuhair”, who returned to the state treasury about $ 292 million of stolen money since his release on bail last November.

 

And at the beginning of this month, the Iraqi authorities announced the recovery of two government officials convicted of financial corruption cases who fled to the Sultanate of Oman.

 

The Federal Integrity Commission, a semi-independent body subject to the oversight of the House of Representatives & charged with combating corruption, said that it was able to recover two government officials convicted of financial corruption cases who fled to the Sultanate of Oman.  It indicated that their arrest was carried out in cooperation with the Omani authorities & the international police (Interpol).

 

The head of the Integrity Commission, Judge Haider Hanoun, announced a move to organize “red signals” from “Interpol” against the wanted persons, and Hanoun said that the judiciary will also request the issuance of red signals to the private secretary & political advisor to former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi.

The government has taken some measures to curb corruption, including isolating some of those responsible for corruption & bringing them to justice as part of a campaign that began in the governorates of Nineveh, Basra, Anbar and other governorates.

 

This included a number of heads of departments concerned with real estate, taxes & others, but the campaign “delayed” for unknown reasons, but the government still declares that it is committed to combating corruption & determined to eliminate it.

 

[oregonrealtor]

Makes one wonder what with all the vast sums of money involved that Sudani might have a target on his back.  It would be a shame as it appears he's starting to make some inroads.