ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court sentenced a lawmaker to seven years in prison for “illicit enrichment,” the Federal Commission of Integrity (FCoI) announced Tuesday, amid an ongoing anti-corruption crackdown.
“The Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court issued an in-person verdict sentencing Member of Parliament Mohammed Farman Shaher Salman al-Jubouri to seven (7) years in prison, based on the … amended Integrity Commission and Illicit Enrichment Law,” the FCoI stated in a post on Facebook.
The commission added that “the convict is obligated to pay more than 28 billion dinars” ($21.4 million), representing “the value of the illicit gains and an equivalent fine.”
The case is part of a broader anti-corruption campaign in Iraq, with courts increasingly pursuing current and former officials over alleged financial crimes.
Launched in late June under Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Operation Dawn has led to arrests and prosecutions of officials, lawmakers and other senior public sector figures, according to Iraqi authorities.
In a similar ruling last Wednesday, the commission sentenced lawmakers Alia Nassif Jassim and Ashwaq Salem Hassan to seven years in prison each for illicit enrichment, ordering Jassim to return over 61 billion dinars ($46.5 million) and Hassan to repay 2.11 billion dinars ($1.6 million) plus $2.92 million, alongside equivalent financial fines.
Nassif is a longtime Iraqi lawmaker who has served in parliament since 2010 and has been a prominent voice on corruption and public spending issues. She was arrested during the anti-corruption campaign launched in late June.
The latest convictions follow similar rulings announced by the commission in August against a former deputy oil minister and a former lawmaker, Ali Maarij al-Bahadly. He was sentenced to seven years in late August and ordered to return 4.73 billion dinars ($3.6 million) and $16.5 million in alleged illicit gains.
Former member of parliament Talal al-Zobaie was arrested in mid-July and also received a seven-year sentence. He was ordered to return 5.54 billion dinars ($4.2 million) and $22.17 million, according to the FCoI at the time.
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