KTFA:

Samson:  Three Countries Embrace $360 Billion Of Iraq’s Stolen Money

16th February, 2022

Former Anti-Corruption Council member Saeed Yassin revealed, on Wednesday, the amount of money stolen from Iraq as a result of corrupt deals, indicating that the total amount is estimated at about 360 billion dollars and deposited in Turkey, the UAE and Jordan.

Yassin said in a televised interview, followed by “The Information”, that “the sums that were stolen from Iraq as a result of corrupt political deals are estimated at 360 billion dollars, and that money laundering and terrorist financing are at the fore in the corruption files.”

He added that “the UN Security Council urged Switzerland to cooperate with Iraq to return its smuggled money, but Iraq does not have an effective intelligence component against that money.”

Yassin pointed out that “most of that smuggled money is currently in the banks of Lebanon, Jordan, the Emirates, Georgia and Ukraine, and the strange thing is that the Iraq Funds Committee in the Ministry of Finance only met once, which indicates that there is no seriousness in recovering the smuggled money.”   LINK

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Samson: Kurdish Activist: The Ruling Families Deduct 65 Dollars From Each Barrel And Deposit It In Their Account

16th February, 2022

The Kurdish activist Mahmoud Yassin Kurdi accused, on Wednesday, the ruling families in the Kurdistan region of stealing large sums of money and depositing them in their accounts in Europe.

In a tweet on Twitter, which was seen by the “Information” agency, Kurdi said, “In the past seven months, with oil prices rising to more than $90, but the Kurdistan Region’s oil revenues were only $350 million.”

He added, “These numbers mean that each barrel of oil goes from only $25 to employee salaries, and the rest goes to European banks in the families’ account. That’s why they want to turn the decision of the Federal Court to the issue of nationalism!”

And the Federal Supreme Court announced, yesterday, Tuesday, that it is not possible for the Kurdistan region to export oil and to hand over the previous proceeds to the Federal Sumo Company, as well as the invalidity of the oil and gas law in the region.  LINK

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Samson:  Iraq Opens 373 Money Recovery Files And Pursues Wanted Persons

16th February, 2022

The head of the “Al-Nahrain Network to Support Integrity and Transparency” and member of the “United Nations Convention Against Corruption” coalition, Muhammad Rahim Al-Rubaie, announced, on Wednesday, that Iraq has made progress in filing civil lawsuits to recover funds in some countries that allowed him to do so by opening 373 recovery files. Money and wanted pursuit.

Al-Rubaie said in an interview seen by / the information /, that “Iraq’s interest in recovering looted assets, which are usually money and convicted or accused persons, began since 2011. A group of Arab countries, which had a significant impact on the interaction of specific mechanisms to open files to recover these funds.”

He added that “the conference held in the capital, Baghdad, allowed Iraq to exchange experiences, and the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs, the Integrity Commission and the Stolen Funds Recovery Fund sought to work seriously for this with international cooperation, signing agreements and concluding protocols with Member States of the United Nations to combat corruption.”

And he indicated that “the matter has revealed its results now that the Integrity Commission and the Fund have opened (373) files to recover money and accused and convicted persons,” describing it as “a good step to implement the chapters of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, especially (Chapter V) of it on the recovery of funds, and Iraq.” Take the necessary measures for the immediate recovery of these properties.”

Al-Rubaie added, “What Iraq needs is for the countries receiving these funds or those on their soil to allow the accused and convicts to make room in the legal system for the affected countries to take legal and judicial measures against them before their judicial authorities,” noting that “some countries allow Iraq to file lawsuits.” Civilian to recover money through its judiciary has made progress and is a good step,” expressing his wishes to recover a lot of money during this year or next.

He stressed, “Iraq’s need for the Stolen Funds Recovery Fund Law in order to seek community involvement in anti-corruption measures. There are international experiences that have allocated a fund to recover funds that focus on infrastructure projects in poor or corruption-affected areas, so that there will be an important step if Iraq does so.  

This motivates all segments of society to engage in the fight against corruption and reduce it significantly, as well as new legislation that allows victims of corruption to demand these corrupt and looters of public money to compensate them for the damage they have suffered.”   LINK

Samson:  Switzerland’s treasuries are opened to Iraq… a major development to recover the “treasure”

16th February, 2022

The Iraqi government begins a new phase in the pursuit of corruption and the tracking of cross-border funds, through laundering, amid talk of making progress in recovering the money of the former regime, which is stored in Swiss banks, with the support of countries around the world.

This great development is related to the announcement by the Integrity Commission, on Tuesday, that Iraq succeeded in what it called “the legal penetration of international banking secrecy, as Iraq was able for the first time to penetrate international banking secrecy, through the efforts of the Integrity Commission and the Iraq Funds Recovery Fund.”

She added that “the breach was carried out through legal procedures, according to which Iraq was able to access the contents of the treasury in Switzerland.”

Successive campaigns

Last year, the current prime minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, launched a wide campaign, in cooperation with the international community, relevant organizations and relevant authorities, as well as neighboring countries and the Arab ocean, with regard to funds smuggled abroad, and support in stopping the draining of the country’s funds, through companies and personalities with complex links. 

Iraqi funds are divided into two parts; The first is since the time of Saddam Hussein, and it belongs to officials of the former regime, members of the Baath Party, and official funds of the Iraqi state over the past years, and the other part, to Iraqi officials, in the post-Saddam Hussein regime, who fled abroad, after the corruption files against them were revealed, and they did not Successive governments manage to send them back to the country.

The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad, said that “moves to recover Iraqi funds employed in hidden investments or safe havens, as they are called outside the country, which had previously been seized, have begun to record success, and that those involved in this matter are classified under the category of financial crimes and face charges of assaulting money. general.” Saleh added, in a press statement, that “these efforts confirm the success of the Integrity Commission in the external field to recover funds, since it was entrusted with the tasks of the Iraq Funds Recovery Fund under Law No. (9) of 2012, which was amended more than two years ago.”

The Iraqi government hopes that the campaign it launched last year will achieve something in tracing billions of dollars smuggled out of the country.

And last September, Iraq organized an international conference in the capital, Baghdad, as part of Al-Kazemi’s plan to expand the tools to fight corruption, to include external parties, after the progress achieved during the last period, such as the arrest of political leaders involved in corruption files, and activating the role of the competent oversight bodies, in this regard. 

 During the opening of the international conference in Baghdad, Al-Kazemi stressed, at the time, that corruption and terrorism are two sides of the same coin, while stressing the recovery of Iraq’s looted funds.

Switzerland knot

With the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Swiss government froze the deposits of 55 former Iraqi officials, including the funds of the late President Saddam Hussein and his sons, to transfer those funds to a fund for the reconstruction of Iraq.

The expert in Iraqi economic affairs, Sarmad Al-Shammari, said that “the announcement of the Integrity Commission, achieving this progress, will make the path to recover Iraq’s funds on the right path, as the node was the response of the Swiss authorities, regarding these funds, and the way to deal with them, in light of the new situation, In addition to the wars and disasters that Iraq witnessed during the past years, which made the countries of the world reluctant to deal positively with regard to such files, until the situation stabilizes, and the gains achieved from those funds are reassured.

Al-Shammari added, in a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, that “what happened represents a major economic development, and the officials in the Integrity Commission, and those concerned with recovering Iraq’s money, should invest this development and enhance it, to open up other horizons, and see all the Swiss data and accounts, which it included a lot of Iraqi money, whether for members of the Saddam Hussein regime, or after 2003.”

It is noteworthy that international resolution 1483 stipulated that all member states of the United Nations transfer the funds of former Iraqi regime officials to a fund for the reconstruction of Iraq. During the past months, the Iraqi authorities announced the arrest of dozens of executive officials and parliamentarians, after the formation of the Anti-Corruption Committee, by Al-Kazemi, amid calls for the continuation of this approach, and its imposition on the next government.  LINK