Iraq: government employee accused of granting citizenship to foreigners 

The Iraqi authorities announced on Thursday the arrest of a government employee accused of falsifying official documents enabling thousands of foreigners to obtain citizenship, Anadolu has reported.

“A team from the Diyala investigation office seized 1,360 forged documents out of 4,333, on the basis of which Iraqi citizenship was granted to foreigners at the Civil Status Identification Department in Khanaqin, north of Diyala,” explained the Public Integrity Commission, a government body charged with investigating corruption.

The commission added that the investigation led to the arrest of one of the department’s employees on charges of fraud. It did not, however, reveal any details about the identity of the foreigners who managed to obtain Iraqi citizenship by falsifying documents with the help of the employee.

The authorities in Iraq frequently reveal that gangs of fraudsters engage in forging official documents to take over state assets, such as real estate or agricultural land. The gangs also produce counterfeit foreign and local currency.

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