ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Confessions made by the detained oil ministry official have led to the arrest of the former governor of Saladin province, Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council announced on Tuesday, adding that the illicit cash seized in relation to the case has experienced dramatic increase after the arrests.
The arrest was "based on confessions made by al-Jumaili during interrogation," the judiciary stated, announcing the arrest of Raed al-Jabouri, the former governor of Salah ad-Din and current provincial health director.
"The other part [of the cash] was hidden underground at a depth of four meters, discovered after excavating the ground using specialized machinery, the statement read, bringing “the total amount of financial funds seized in this case to over 98 billion dinars and 11 million dollars."
The arrest comes amid a scandal involving former Deputy Minister of Oil for Refining Affairs Adnan al-Jumaili. The Iraqi judiciary stated on Monday that the total assets seized from Jumaili and “his associates” have risen to $10 million and 31 million Iraqi dinars in cash, 70 real-estate units across Iraq, 21 “modern vehicles," and gold jewelry estimated at nearly three kilograms.
With the assets seized on Tuesday, “the total amount of financial funds seized in this case now amounts to over 98 billion dinars [around $75 million] and $11 million," according to the statement, with the seizure of cash "exceeding 67 billion Iraqi dinars [around $51 million]" and an additional $1 million in one day.
The judiciary attributed the recovery to "ongoing investigations and meticulous tracking to seize financial proceeds resulting from the waste [of public funds] in projects implemented by the accused and other parties involved."
This case is the first major anti-corruption effort under the auspices of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, appointed in late April.
Zaidi earlier revealed that he was offered a $200 million bribe to bury the corruption case in the oil ministry. The Iraqi premier said his government will implement a "comprehensive" reform program to combat corruption and scale back the country's overreliance on oil revenues.
Iraq ranked 136th out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) in 2025, scoring 28 out of 100, reflecting a high prevalence of public-sector corruption compared to global standards.
