The Iraqi Public Prosecution has directed four warrants to the International Police (Interpol) for the arrest of senior officials from the former Iraqi government on charges relating to the embezzlement of tax securities. This case is popularly known in the media as the “Theft of the Century.”
Iraqi media sources reported that the four warrants, signed by the Chief Prosecutor Najm Abdullah Ahmad on August 8, identified the accused as: “The former head of the National Intelligence Agency, Judge Raed Jouhi Hamadi Al-Saadi; the director of the special office of the former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi; his advisor Mushreq Abbas Hassan Hussein Al-Janabi; and the former Finance Minister Abdul Amir Husoun Ali Taha.”
The Chief Prosecutor of Iraq has asked the international police to confirm receipt and to notify him in the event of their arrest, enabling him to act in accordance with the law.
It’s worth noting that last January, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council announced the “issuance of new arrest warrants against officials from the former government regarding the ‘Theft of the Century’.” The Supreme Judicial Council stated in its release that “its president, Judge Faik Zeidan, met with the head of the Integrity Commission, Haidar Hanoun, senior judges in the investigative courts specializing in Integrity Commission cases in Rusafa and Karkh, and the head of the supporting team for the Supreme Anti-Corruption Council,” according to the Iraqi News Agency “INA.”
The statement further clarified that the attendees discussed “submitting ideas and proposals to the relevant ministries to amend contracts that are deemed prejudicial to the state and harmful to the citizen, ensuring the preservation of public funds, and at the same time, ensuring that neither party to the contract is harmed.”
