Shafaq News-Baghdad

Iraqiauthorities detained at least 35 officials and employees in six separatecorruption cases between July 12 and July 19, according to a Shafaq Newsreview. The detentions spanned five provinces or operational jurisdictions andseven government sectors, from the Defense Ministry to customs posts on the KurdistanRegion's boundary.

The week'sarrests form part of a nationwide anti-corruption campaign ordered by PrimeMinister Ali al-Zaidi, who took office in May and directed the first wave ofraids on June 28 under Dawn Crackdown (Sawlat al-Fajr). That operation, carriedout largely by the Counter-Terrorism Service, was executed by the FederalCommission of Integrity, an independent state body mandated to investigatepublic-sector corruption, acting on warrants from the Central Anti-CorruptionCriminal Court.

: Iraq's Dawn Crackdown by numbers: 67 arrests explained

Defense Sector,Iraqi Airways Records The Largest Single Case

The two largestcases of the week reached the Defense Ministry and Iraqi Airways. The FederalCommission of Integrity announced the detention of a major general, a brigadiergeneral, a colonel, and five engineers from the defence ministry's Directorateof Military Works over a contract to rehabilitate and equip the Air ForceHospital in Baghdad's Al-Rustamiya district. The contract was valued at 92.88billion Iraqi dinars, approximately 71 million dollars.

The IraqiMinistry of Transport also suspended eight senior Iraqi Airways officials asauthorities investigate the disappearance of 16 billion Iraqi dinars ($12.2M)from the state-owned carrier's accounts.

Nineveh, Diyalaand Al-Diwaniyah

Six detentionswere recorded in Nineveh province. Four Oil Ministry employees were held afterauditors identified discrepancies between fuel quantities logged at agovernment filling station and the volumes physically present in its tanks,with proceeds from state fuel sales found in the personal vehicle of thestation's cashier. Two Finance Ministry personnel at the Pension Directoratewere detained separately for processing original pension transactions withoutthe applicants present and without legal authorization.

In Diyala, twoHealth Directorate employees were arrested in connection with an establishedcase involving alleged bribes to inflate medical disability ratings fromroughly 30 percent to at least 50 percent, a threshold that allows applicantsto retire on full salary. The cumulative total in that case has reached 12detentions, of which two fall inside the review week.

Four municipalemployees were detained in Al-Diwaniyah in southern Iraq, among them the chairand members of a committee reviewing land applications, over suspectedmanipulation and forgery in transactions involving plots allocated to lawyers.

Customs And TheLegislature

At the Darmancrossing, a customs point on the boundary between Kirkuk province and the KurdistanRegion, six employees were detained for allegedly holding up legally completecustoms transactions until traders and citizens paid money.

The singlearrest touching the legislature was that of Talal Al-Zobaie, a former member ofthe Iraqi Council of Representatives and former chair of its IntegrityCommittee, detained in Baghdad.

Where TheWeek's Cases Fell

Measured bysector, defense and military works accounted for eight of the 27 detentions,customs and border administration for six, oil for four, municipaladministration and state land for four, health for two, finance and pensionadministration for two, and the legislature for one.

By location,Baghdad recorded nine detentions, Nineveh six, the Kirkuk-Darman crossing six,Al-Diwaniyah four and Diyala two.

Al-Zaidi told acabinet session on June 29 that the measures were in their early phase,describing the campaign as a first stage of a broader effort to restore stateauthority.

All detaineesreferred by the Federal Commission of Integrity this week were held underwarrants issued by the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court, which willprocess the cases, according to commission statements.

Asset RecoveryAnd The Next Phase

An Iraqigovernment source told Shafaq News that the return of stolen funds andconfiscation of assets acquired with public money could recover about 10trillion dinars ($7.6 billion). Authorities have also named 40 individualssuspected of corruption, among them four lawmakers, serving and former deputyministers, directors-general, intermediaries, and prominent business ownersfrom across Iraq's communities.

Another sourcerevealed that the anti-corruption committee headed by al-Zaidi is preparing alist of roughly 127 individuals accused of smuggling public money and acquiringproperty and assets inside and outside Iraq.

A specializedteam tracking Iraqi funds moved abroad has identified the principal figures inthe file along with properties and assets purchased with public money after2005, according to the source. The holdings named span Kuwait, Turkiye, theUnited Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar, Jordan, Oman and Iran, alongside a numberof African and European states, and include tourist resorts and luxury hotels. Statement translated and paraphrased from Arabic.

Once theinventory is complete, those named will be confronted over the acquisitions,and recovery procedures will follow, the source said, covering property insideIraq in Baghdad, Saladin and al-Anbar as well as assets held abroad.

: Can Iraq recover billions in stolen assets abroad?