“He was not deliberately trying to deceive people,” says Hareem Saleh, the businessman in question’s lawyer. “He suffered huge losses because of the financial crisis [in Iraqi Kurdistan]. He has already tried to pay back about 40 percent of what he owes, by giving away property or reaching other settlements. But not everything has been finalized.”
Some of the culprits, like the latter, have been arrested. But many others have simply fled the city. Rumours abound, with some suggesting that the individuals in question have escaped Iraqi Kurdistan with millions.
“I heard that two exchange companies recently smuggled US$98 million out of the region and escaped from the city,” adds Sirwan Mohammed, who also works in the dollar market.
“The financial crisis has led to major disaster for many local businesses,” confirms Yassin Mahmoud Rashid, the spokesperson for the Kurdistan Investors’ Union, adding that his organization knows of two local businessmen who simply took the money that had been loaned to them and went to Europe. Rashid believes that the whole financial system in Iraqi Kurdistan needs better organization and better policing, in order to prevent these kinds of situations.
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