Report: Iraq referred 11 ex-ministers to court on graft charges in 2018

The Iraqi Commission of Integrity said yesterday it had referred 11 former ministers to court on charges of corruption in 2018.

Commission Chairman, Ezzat Tawfiq Jafar, said at a press conference that the Commission had processed 12,398 cases in 2018 of which 8,938 had been completed.

He pointed out that 3,070 defendants were referred to the judiciary during 2018, including 11 ministers and 156 senior officials including general managers.

The Commission is linked to parliament and investigates corruption in official circles.

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According to Transparency International, Iraq is among the world’s most corrupt countries.

Financial and administrative corruption have undermined the Iraqi state, whose population still suffers from lack of public services including electricity, health and education despite receiving tens of billions of dollars a year from the oil revenues.