Five Tax Officials Detained in Diyala for Wasting 2 Billion Dinars
At a Glance
- Five tax officials were detained in Diyala in an anti-corruption probe.
- Two billion Iraqi dinars in public funds were wasted
- Over 703 million dinars were recovered
Five tax officials were detained in Iraq’s Diyala Governorate after an anti-corruption probe revealed their failure to collect two billion Iraqi dinars in state revenues.
Key Statements and Focus Areas
- The Integrity Commission said that “the accused employees, through their gross errors, caused damage to the funds and interests of the entity they work for (the General Commission for Taxes).”
- The body highlighted that the arrests followed the discovery of severe official negligence that failed to collect income taxes from local livestock and wholesale fruit markets.
The Federal Integrity Commission stated on Monday that it revealed the wastage of two billion dinars of public funds by a number of employees at the General Commission for Taxes in Diyala, due to their refusal to collect amounts owed to the state treasury.
The Investigation and Judicial Seizure task force from the Diyala Investigation Office arrested five tax assessors following an audit of the governorate's General Commission for Taxes branch. The arrests were made after a specialized audit uncovered irregularities in the branch's operations.
This failure to enforce tax compliance resulted in the wastage of nearly two billion dinars in state funds, the commission added.
The Integrity Commission's intervention successfully recovered over 703 million dinars from delinquent taxpayers and placed precautionary seizures on the movable and immovable property of eight others.
“The decision of the judge of the Baqubah Investigation Court, which specializes in integrity cases, who ordered the detention of the accused based on the provisions of Article (341) of the Penal Code,” the statement added.
FYI
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi launched a comprehensive, high-stakes anti-corruption offensive in late June. This systemic campaign targets state-level administrative and financial fraud.
Over just a few weeks, the Federal Integrity Commission (FCoI) has executed massive raids, issuing dozens of warrants across multiple provinces, including Diwaniyah, Kirkuk, and Nineveh. High-profile targets include lawmakers, political party leaders, and senior figures like the Deputy Oil Minister for Refinery Affairs.
As of August 2026, joint federal and SWAT operations have preserved or recovered more than $1.2 billion USD (comprising over 837 billion Iraqi dinars and $550 million in foreign cash) from dismantled corruption networks. Just recently, a court in Rusafa successfully recovered 20 billion dinars in a single case.
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