Iraq targets state funds stolen from ‘people, poor and orphans’

• Prime minister intensifies campaign
• Parliament to scrutinise draft law
• Millions of dollars seized so far

Iraq has announced plans to introduce legislation to recover stolen public funds.

Prime minister Ali Al-Zaidi is stepping up an anti-corruption campaign that has already led to the arrest of former officials and the seizure of millions of dollars in alleged illicit assets.

The law is to be presented to parliament “soon” for endorsement.

The government has conducted dawn raids on the homes of public servants suspected of financial crimes. Those arrested include former oil ministry undersecretary Ali Al-Bahadli, according to the state news agency, which said around $11 million in his possession was seized.

In a televised address, Al-Zaidi said the anti-corruption work would intensify in the next few days and would target suspects inside and outside Iraq.

“Those who have illegally seized public funds must return them to the Iraqi people. We want to build a new Iraq where no one is allowed to steal the money of our people, the poor and the orphans,” Al-Zaidi said.

The head of Iraq’s integrity commission, the top state auditor, said new legislation would be enforced to support that drive.

“A draft law on the recovery of stolen public funds will soon be presented to parliament,” the commission’s director general Abbas Mutab was quoted as saying by the official news agency, noting that it has managed to freeze significant amounts of funds abroad.

“The commission is working, in coordination with the Ministry of Justice, to file civil lawsuits to recover the frozen funds, which are believed to be substantial,” he added.

An aide to Al-Zaidi said the anti-corruption campaign would bolster public confidence, support the economy and help reduce fiscal deficits.

• Iraq’s central bank governor cannot fight crime on his own
• ZainCash CEO: Iraq is 5 years behind in digital payments
• Iraq posts $5bn budget gap as oil revenue slumps during Iran war

“The recovered funds will contribute to easing the pressure on the general budget and reducing the need for borrowing, as well as providing additional resources that can be directed towards developing infrastructure and the health, education, housing and basic services sectors,” Mudhar Saleh, a financial adviser to Al-Zaidi, told the official Iraqi news agency.

Last week, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added Iraq to its “grey list” of countries with perceived deficiencies in their anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism funding laws.

“Iraq has been added to the grey list as work is needed ‌to ⁠tackle risks related to cash, increase money-laundering and terrorist-financing investigations and enhance the use of financial information,” FATF president Elisa de Anda Madrazo said.