The latest corruption news from Iraq – company or government bribes, theft, stealing – brought to you by Iraq Business News
By John Lee. [UPDATE: In January 2017, Wal King, former CEO of Leighton Holdings, received an apology and an out-of-court settlement from Fairfax Media following their claim that he knew of alleged corporate misconduct, including the payment of a $42 million bribe in Iraq.] Shares in the Australia's Leighton Holdings, Australia’s biggest builder, fell more […]
By John Lee. Ruebin S. Thomas, a former civilian contractor, has pleaded guilty to stealing two electric generators from a U.S. military base in Iraq, reports Associated Press. Thomas, who worked for Honeywell Technologies at the Camp Victory Base Complex in Baghdad, stole two generators valued at $176,000 each in June 2009. Sentencing was scheduled […]
By John Lee. Swedish aid money channeled to Iraq has gone missing, leading the government coalition partner the Centre Party to report the democracy project to the police. The Local reports that the project was administered by the minority party's international foundation CIS (Centerpartiets internationella stiftelse), but accountants realized that they could not account for […]
Iraq’s Commission of Integrity, with the support of the Central Statistics Office and UNDP Iraq, has announced the findings from its study on corruption and integrity in Iraq’s public sector. This study offered new evidence to help the Government of Iraq, civil society, the UN in Iraq, NGOs and other organizations working in Iraq to […]
By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Two Iraqi parliamentary committees monitoring fiscal policy in Iraq have held two contradictory positions on the Iraqi currency “reset” project, which would delete three zeros from the currency. There has been […]
By Waheed Ghanim. This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Currency Class War: Damaged Dinar Notes result in Bribery, Injustice Exchange shops, bank cashiers and savvy housewives are doing big business as they deal with Iraq’s […]
By John Lee. A Paris court has cleared oil company Total, its chief executive Christophe de Margerie (pictured), and over a dozen other defendants of corruption charges related to the UN's oil-for-food programme in Iraq. The former interior minister Charles Pasqua, the Swiss oil trader Vitol, and a former French ambassador to the UN, were […]
The Ministry of Education has today launched new curricula for both primary and secondary schools in Iraq. The aim is to raise awareness and understanding of the concepts of integrity, transparency, human rights and honesty. The new curricula were designed by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the UN Development Programme (UNDP). This innovative […]
The Iraqi Prime Minister reportedly insisted on Monday that some of the fake bomb detectors Iraq bought are actually functional, despite overwhelming evidence that none of them work. According to AFP, Nouri al-Maliki told reporters: "The best device in the world does not detect (explosives) more than 60 percent (of the time)... and results we […]
The conman who made $84 million selling fake bomb detectors to Iraq and other countries has been jailed for ten years by a court in the UK. Passing sentence on Jim McCormick, Judge Richard Hone said: "The device was useless, the profits outrageous and your culpability as a fraudster has to be placed in the […]
By Padraig O'Hannelly. Before the local elections, an art student climbed the tallest building in central Baghdad and hung a banner depicting a giant eye, with the caption "We can see you", overlooking the Green Zone. It's an image that should be in the minds of all who consider bribery to be a perk of […]
A British businessman has been found guilty of an $84-million fraud involving the sale of fake bomb detectors to Iraq and other countries. A jury found Jim McCormick guilty on three counts of fraud over the scam, which involved passing off novelty golfball finders, containing no functioning electronics, as bomb detectors. They "ADE651" detectors were […]
