Iraq News Now

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s Integrity Commission on Tuesday said their investigative team had seized about half a million US dollars from the home of a former Iraqi official’s relative in the province of Nineveh.

The exact amount was $445,900, discovered in the house of a relative of former Iraqi official who was detained for involvement in corruption cases. According to a Commission statement which Kurdistan 24 received, the detainee was the former Director of the Engineering Department in Nineveh province. The report did not provide the person’s name.

The money was withdrawn on April 22, two days before the Iraqi Parliament sacked former Nineveh Governor Nawfal al-Akub, the Integrity Commission noted.

The Islamic State emerged in Nineveh’s Mosul city in June 2014 and soon expanded to other Iraqi provinces. The extremist group claimed Mosul as the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate.

The province, in general, and Mosul, in particular, suffered significant damage during the three years of war waged against the Islamic State.

Iraq declared a military victory against the group in December 2017. However, Nineveh continues to suffer from a lack of basic services and infrastructure, with very little progress with reconstruction efforts in the area.

Corruption and mismanagement within Iraq’s government institutions remain a challenge and obstacle for civilians hoping for stability in the country.

Iraq has one of the world’s largest oil reserves and is the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The embattled Middle Eastern nation, however, continues to rank high on Transparency International’s list for corruption, fraud, and mismanagement of state institutions, some of the most significant challenges facing the country since the fall of the former regime in 2003.

According to the organization’s 2018 Corruption Index, Iraq ranks 168th, the 12th most corrupt country out of a total of 180.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany