The central anti-corruption criminal court judged in absentia a former Hilla municipality head as a result of violations found in one of the contracts, announced the Iraqi integrity commission.
The former official is accused of allocating 250 million dinars (over 175 thousand dollars) for equipping the Kifl municipality with large Renault trucks, while the vehicle costs 180 million dinars (over 126 thousand dollars) from the manufacturer itself.
The court has sentenced the former official in accordance with Article 340 of the Iraqi penal code, also granting the affected party the right to claim compensation once the ruling has been finalized.
Article 340 of the Iraqi penal code states that, “any public official or agent who willfully inflicts damage on the property or interests of the authority for which he works or to which he is associated by virtue of his position or on another's property that has been entrusted to him is punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding seven years or by detention.”
Rampant corruption plagues all levels of the Iraqi state, and official figures published last year estimated that well over 400 billion dollars has gone missing from state coffers since former dictator Saddam Hussein's regime was overthrown in 2003.
The crisis-hit country ranks 157 out of 180 countries in Transparency International's corruption perceptions index.
An investigation by the Iraqi finance ministry in October concluded that $2.5 billion in tax funds were stolen from the General Commission of Taxes’ account at Baghdad's Rafidain Bank between September 2021 and August 2022, during the tenure of former finance minister Ali Allawi.
The Iraqi government has repeatedly vowed to retrieve the stolen funds, but has so far only retrieved a small portion of the amount despite arresting the main suspect in the case over six months ago.
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