The latest corruption news from Iraq – company or government bribes, theft, stealing – brought to you by Iraq Business News
British businessman Mark Jessop has admitted breaking United Nations sanctions during the Oil For Food Programme by making illegal payments to Saddam Hussein's government. He has been sentenced today at Southwark Crown Court to 24 weeks' imprisonment and ordered to pay compensation and costs. Background Mark Rodney Jessop, aged 53, sold medical goods to the […]
Johnson & Johnson, the world’s second-biggest maker of medical products, will pay $70 million after admitting that the company bribed doctors in Europe and paid kickbacks in Iraq to win contracts and sell drugs and artificial joints. Bloomberg reports that subsidiaries of J&J paid bribes to doctors and hospital administrators in Greece, Poland and Romania, […]
By Tariq Abdell, Iraq’s political risk analyst, and 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. In light of ongoing socio-political changes in MENA region, Iraq's massive protests, from Zakho to al-Faw, accentuate the political astuteness and […]
Bloomberg reports that KBR managers in Iraq and Kuwait are accused by US authorities of taking $45,000 in kickbacks from a dining facility subcontractor from late 2002 through 2003. Terry Hall, who was KBR’s regional food services manager for the two countries, and his deputy, Luther Holmes, were accused of violating the False Claims Act […]
The commander of Iraq's rapid response force has been arrested on suspicion of corruption. According to a report from Reuters, Brigadier General Numan Dakhil was caught during a sting operation in which he was filmed taking a $50,000 bribe from a contractor. Sabah al-Saedi, a member of the Integrity Committee, said that Brigadier General Numan […]
The protests in Iraq, while obviously inspired by those in other Arab countries, have a different focus. The latter have been primarily about politics. In Iraq the protestors’ demands center on economic problems. They want more jobs and electricity and less corruption. Due to its natural resource endowment, Iraq is an example of what political […]
The parliamentary economic committee will oversee all commercial contracts signed by the Trade Ministry in order to eliminate corruption, a committee member announced today. Salman al-Moussawi told AKnews that the intervention of the commission is backed by the government in a bid to accelerate the work of the ministry and negate the possibility of fraudulent […]
The Parliamentary Integrity Commission revealed on Sunday the most corrupt government ministries, indicating that they are currently investigating the cases and that more details will follow. Bahaa al-Aaraji, the chairman of the committee told AKnews that the most corrupt ministries are those of health, trade, defense, sports and youth, as well as the Secretariat of […]
A former U.S. Army major and his wife have been convicted of bribery and money laundering in a huge scheme that illegally funneled some $60 million in Iraq war contracts, the Justice Department said on Wednesday according to a report from AFP. Eddie Pressley and his wife Eurica, from Harvest, Alabama, engaged in "an audacious […]
Riad El-Taher has been jailed for 10 months for making illegal payments to the Iraqi Government of Saddam Hussein in contravention of United Nations sanctions and UK law Riad El-Taher, a British citizen aged 71 from Esher, Surrey, has admitted that in 2001 he made four illegal payments totalling over $500,000 to the Iraqi Government […]
Two former directors and a sales manager of engineering firm Mabey & Johnson Ltd have been sentenced today for providing kickbacks to the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. Charles Forsyth, David Mabey and Richard Gledhill inflated the contract price for the supply of steel bridges and disguised illegal payments that were channelled through Jordanian banks. […]
Around $34 million is "missing" from a post-Gulf War fund that Iraq maintains to protect the money from foreign claims, its parliamentary speaker said on Monday as authorities scrambled to head off further protests on cutting politicians' pay and ramping up support for the needy. "There is missing money, we do not know where it […]
