The latest corruption news from Iraq – company or government bribes, theft, stealing – brought to you by Iraq Business News
The exiled former head of the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), Hussein Al-Uzri [Hussein al-Azri], has denied allegations of corruption and mis-management in a telephone interview with Reuters. "It's about control of this bank," the U.S.-educated banker, aged 48, told the news agency in his first media interview since fleeing Iraq. "Having control of the […]
The Los Angeles Times reports that theft has not been ruled out by auditors trying to trace $6.6 billion [7.9 trillion Iraqi dinars] of missing cash. A total of $12 billion in shrink-wrapped bricks of $100 bills was flown to Iraq in 2003 and 2004 to pay for public services, contractors, and general reconstruction. More […]
Iraq's Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has appointed Hamida al-Jaf as head of the state-owned Trade Bank of Iraq, replacing Hussein al-Uzri amid investigations into alleged corruption, the bank’s deputy director general said. “The Trade Bank of Iraq is operating normally and people have confidence in the bank,” Deputy Director General Abdel Hadi Sadeq Abdel Mahdi […]
The discovery of two fake contracts in which officials from Baghdad municipality were involved has shed new light on the extent of corruption in the country, according to a report from Azzaman. The municipality claims that two of its senior officials were involving in doctoring two $164 million contracts for the construction of sports stadiums […]
Following Thursday's raid on the offices of the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), CNBC reports that Iraqi authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the head of the bank, which is under investigation for alleged irregularities. An Iraqi government source said Hussein al-Uzri, president and chairman of the bank, had fled to Lebanon. He reportedly […]
Iraq's prime minister ordered a judicial investigation on Thursday into one of the country's biggest banks, the Trade Bank of Iraq, saying it was suspected of committing "violations", according to a report from Reuters. The bank's president and chairman, Hussein Al-Uzri, could not be reached for comment. A British adviser to the bank's board, Sir […]
The New York Times reports that two American businessmen have been charged with paying army officers more than $1 million in bribes to secure multimillion-dollar contracts to supply the American military and help rebuild Iraq. A federal indictment against the men, George H. Lee, and his son, Justin W. Lee, was unsealed on Friday. Both […]
By Tariq Abdell, Iraq’s political risk analyst, Founder & CEO of Mesopotamia Insight. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The recent upsurge in violence across Iraq ( sticky bombs, car bombs, roadside bombs, targeted assassinations, suicide bombers, prison breaks, etc...) underscores, irrefutably, […]
It is a story that could fit in the national newspapers of any country in the world: "central government projects delayed". Yet Iraq seems determined to do something about the delays to these development projects, reports AKnews, as the government is voluntarily giving up central control to local councils to oversee the projects' completion, after […]
The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. […]
A member of Iraq's Integrity Committee, Aliya Nassif confirmed on Wednesday that the committee is investigating possible financial corruption in a deal by the previous government's Defense Ministry to buy military equipment from Serbia. Nassif told AKnews that the Ministry of Defense in the former government had contracted with Serbia to buy arms for the […]
The Customs Directorate of the Iraqi Finance Ministry announced that 11 vehicles were seized carrying 200 tons of tea mixed with wood shavings and sticks imported by an Iraqi trader through the Traibil [Tirbil, Tarbiel] border crossing (pictured). The Director-General of the Customs Directorate Nawfal Khalil told AKnews that the Directorate has opened an investigation […]
