Iraq Can’t Control Its Funds Bleed As Governance Weakens
Things are showing in the Iraqi government falling apart in the absence of a proper governance as money theft goes rampant in their various departments. Iraq has now confirmed a huge theft of 2.5billion euros that has gone missing from its bank fund at Iraq’s General Tax Authority. This has been ascertained as the largest scandal and embarrassment for the country. The theft was announced on Saturday by Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar and confirmed by Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al Sudani. Accord to Mr. Jabbar, an investigation by the Ministry of Finance is now underway. This was the last portfolio he was heading till his resignation this week. Apparently, a specific group without having given details had made off with 3.7 trillion (with a’b’) Iraqi dinars, about 2.5 billion euros, in a fund of the national tax authority in the Rafidian bank. The Rafidain, the largest bank in Iraq, with 165 branches inside Iraq and offices in Cairo, Beirut, or Abu Dhabi, has assured that it has no...