Iraq’s anti-corruption criminal court has issued an arrest warrant for a businessman who is the main suspect in the “theft of the century” as well as a former adviser to the prime minister, for their involvement in stealing $2.5 billion in tax insurance.
The case, known as the “theft of the century,” came to light in the fall of 2022 as one of the biggest thefts in the oil-rich but corruption-plagued country.
Public anger has been renewed in recent days after businessman Nour Zuhair, the main defendant in the case who is currently outside the country, appeared in a television interview. Zuhair was arrested in October 2022 and then released on bail, enabling him to leave the country. He did not attend his trial sessions, which began in mid-August.
Yesterday, Tuesday, the Specialized Criminal Court for Anti-Corruption Cases issued an “arrest order for Nour Zuhair and Haitham al-Jubouri,” the former government advisor, according to the Iraqi News Agency, referring to “those accused of stealing tax deposits.”
The agency reported that “earlier, the head of the Integrity Commission, Haider Hanoun, confirmed that Nour Zuhair will be tried with 30 other defendants soon.”
The same source indicated earlier this month that at least 6 defendants were in detention or awaiting extradition to Iraq from abroad.
Political system scandal
A document related to the case from the General Tax Authority states that $2.5 billion was paid between September 2021 and August 2022 through 247 checks issued by five companies, and then the money was withdrawn in cash from the accounts of these companies, whose owners are subject to arrest warrants.
In October 2022, Zuhair was arrested at Baghdad airport while trying to leave the country on a private plane.
A month later, the authorities announced his release, after he returned $125 million to the state and pledged to continue paying additional amounts.
Journalist Hamed Al-Sayed, an observer specializing in Iraqi affairs, told Agence France-Presse, “The case of Nour Zuhair is a scandal that does not only haunt him personally, but haunts the entire political system that allowed people like him to escape.”
He added that “the process of releasing him from prison while he is under investigation is a smuggling operation, and the political system is complicit.”
Zuhair, who has not disclosed his place of residence, gave his first interview to an Iraqi TV channel last week, and then media reported that he had been involved in a car accident in Beirut.
For his part, Al-Jubouri returned $2.6 million of the money found in his account, and a judicial source who requested anonymity told Agence France-Presse that the authorities do not know his whereabouts and that he has stopped paying the amounts he still owes to the state “for several months.”
