Arrest warrant issued for former Babil governor

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — An arrest warrant has been issued for Karrar al-Abadi, the former governor of Babil province, on the grounds of corruption, state media reported on Wednesday.
 
The Hilla Investigation Court in Babil issued the warrant Abadi for falsification of documents granting land to a number of "martyrs families and political prisoners," who were either ineligible or had not been approved by the relevant committees, state media added. 

The arrest warrant was issued based on the provisions of Article 340 of the Penal Code, which stipulates employees can face up to seven years in prison for “willfully” causing harm to their workplace or its revenues. 
 
This is not the first time Abadi has been accused of corruption.

In March 2020, Babel Criminal Court initially sentenced him to seven years in prison after he was convicted on charges of forging his official identification papers in order to become governor. He was never sent to jail.

Abadi was removed from his position in October. 

Iraq is one of the world’s most corrupt countries.
 
Some $450 billion in public funds have vanished into the pockets of shady politicians and businessmen since the 2003 US-led invasion, a parliamentary study found, according to AFP.