The US Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the US District Court for the Central District of California, seeking to seize a Beverly Hills mansion allegedly purchased and renovated with approximately $30 million in proceeds from a "scheme to defraud" the Department of Defense, "bribe" Mansour Barzani, son of Masoud Barzani, president of the KDP, and "launder money" in violation of US law.

According to the complaint, a Virginia-based defence contractor and associates ran a "corrupt scheme" from 2016 to 2020, obtaining more than $700 million from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for fuel deliveries to the US military during Operation Inherent Resolve — the US-led campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Erbil International Airport (EIA), where Kurdish Peshmerga forces controlled internal security and facility access, served as a critical delivery point for jet fuel used by US and coalition forces operating in Iraq and Syria.

The complaint alleges that officers of the contracting company agreed to pay Mansour Barzani, son of Masoud Barzani, president of the KDP, a "bribe" of $0.25 per litre in exchange for "exclusive access" to deliver jet fuel in the Kurdistan Region for the US military and coalition forces.

During this period, rival contractors were "blocked" from accessing EIA for jet fuel deliveries on behalf of the DLA, and the agency issued one-time-buy contracts to the company, often at "noncompetitive and significantly inflated prices", resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in payments.

Funds obtained through the scheme were transferred to NYJD Trust No.1, a trust established in Virginia for Barzani's "private benefit," the complaint states.

In 2018, approximately $30 million from the trust was used to purchase the Beverly Hills property, with further funds directed toward renovations and improvements between 2019 and 2022.

The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation. Deputy Chief Michael B. Redmann and Senior Trial Attorney Steven Parker of the Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are handling the matter, with support from the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California and the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs.

The Justice Department noted that a civil forfeiture complaint is an allegation, and the government bears the burden of proving the assets are subject to forfeiture by a preponderance of the evidence.