Shafaq News..Iraqi MP faults Oil Ministry oversight in graft cases

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi lawmaker Abu Turab
Al-Tamimi on Friday held the Oil Ministry’s financial oversight and legal
departments responsible for alleged corruption involving Deputy Oil Minister
for Refining Affairs Adnan Al-Jumaili and detained Oil Products Distribution Company
chief Hussein Talib.

Al-Tamimi, a member of the
Badr parliamentary bloc, told Shafaq News that former Prime Minister Mohammed
Shia Al-Sudani had granted Al-Jumaili conditional powers requiring compliance
with regulations overseen by the two departments. He said the allegations
involving Talib were more extensive than those linked to the deputy minister.

Security forces arrested Talib
in Baghdad in July over suspected graft, hours before he was due to take the
constitutional oath as a replacement member of parliament.

The lawmaker also claimed that
corruption within the Electricity Ministry exceeded that in the oil sector but
had attracted considerably less attention.

Read more: Iraq’s Dawn Crackdown spreads through state institutions

Asked whether recovered assets
could help ease Iraq’s financial crisis, Al-Tamimi said they could provide an
important source of revenue but would not be sufficient on their own to address
the country’s fiscal challenges.

The investigation into
Al-Jumaili has emerged as one of the largest under the government’s Dawn
Crackdown (Sawlat Al-Fajr). On Aug. 31, judicial authorities reported seizing
another 7 billion dinars, $5.5 million, 35 properties, and six vehicles from
his detained office director, on top of earlier recoveries exceeding $20
million, 60 kilograms of gold, real estate, and vehicles.

Information obtained during
the deputy minister’s questioning also implicated political figures and
lawmakers and helped expose an alleged network involving public funds,
government spokesperson Haider Al-Aboudi revealed in June.

Prime Minister Ali Falih
Al-Zaidi launched the nationwide Dawn Crackdown on June 28. A Shafaq News
review documented at least 210 detentions during its first six weeks, spanning
officials, lawmakers, public employees, and business figures.

Read more: Can Iraq recover billions in stolen assets abroad?