Iraqi PM launches anti-corruption campaign, seizes $86 million and assets

An unusual wave of anti-corruption arrests targeting senior officials in Iraq has led to the seizure of tens of millions of dollars, stirring domestic public opinion and refocusing attention on the country's decades-long financial corruption problem.

Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said Tuesday (June 3) that the cash seized in a probe into alleged corruption involving Adnan al-Jumaili, the Deputy Oil Minister for Refining Affairs, had risen to about $86 million. In addition, 70 properties, 21 vehicles, and about 3 kg (6.6 pounds) of gold jewelry were also confiscated.

Al-Jumaili, who previously served as chairman of the Northern Oil Refining Company, was arrested at his home in the town of al-Ishaqi, north of Baghdad, on May 30 as part of the investigation.

The case came just days after new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered an investigation into contracts signed by the government in recent years in search of evidence of corruption.

The Supreme Judicial Council also said that Raed al-Jubouri, former governor of Salah al-Din province (where al-Jumaili lived), had also been arrested. Al-Jubouri was serving as the province's health director at the time of his arrest.

Anti-corruption activists complain that Iraq's political structure is built on corruption, with parties and politicians using their networks of power and influence to plunder state assets.

Iraq ranks 136th out of 182 countries in Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index. The report noted some improvements but warned of "significant structural barriers" that remain. It also highlighted the issue of systemic corruption in Iraq's political system.

Al-Jumaili is the highest-ranking government figure arrested on corruption charges since Prime Minister al-Zaidi took office on May 16. Previously, Alaa Samir al-Jubouri, a senior official at Iraq's Ministry of Electricity, was also arrested in June on similar charges.

Prime Minister al-Zaidi cancelled a $764 million development project for Baghdad International Airport over corruption suspicions, a move signaling the government's increasing seriousness about the issue. One of his first decisions was to establish the Supreme Council for Integrity, Oversight, and Recovery of Public Assets, a body directly chaired by the prime minister tasked with monitoring ministries, departments, administrative units, and local governments to prevent the loss of public funds and recover state assets.

"Iraq's government and the prime minister consider corruption one of the most serious challenges threatening the Iraqi state and its political order," government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi said at a recent press conference.

Though the campaign is in its early stages, some observers express skepticism, arguing it has not addressed older, larger, or politically sensitive corruption cases. "I admit this is the first time I've seen a collective anti-corruption effort led by the prime minister," said Mousa Faraj, former head of Iraq's Federal Integrity Commission, told Al Jazeera. "But my advice to the prime minister is to start with old, serious files. At the top are the Central Bank's currency auctions in previous years, where corruption amounted to tens of billions of dollars."

On May 28, the Federal Integrity Commission announced it had thwarted a plot to embezzle 1.5 trillion Iraqi dinars ($1.145 billion) from two state-owned banks, Al-Rafidain and Al-Rasheed.

Long-standing problem

In March 2021, Iraq's Federal Integrity Commission estimated that $240 billion had been smuggled out of the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, equivalent to 32% of Iraq's total income over that 18-year period. Recovering those funds remains a daunting task.

"Restoring stolen money, whether from inside or outside the country, is a very difficult process, if not impossible," said Mohammed Raheem al-Rubie, head of the al-Nahrain Foundation for Transparency and Integrity. One reason is Iraq's outdated legal system, largely based on the 1969 penal code, which does not cover types of financial crimes that emerged after 2003. Al-Rubie said the code needs updating to address the scale of corruption, even though new laws on integrity, illicit gain, and money laundering have been enacted.

A 2024 report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on corruption in Iraq pointed to reliance on broad legal frameworks that may not be commensurate with the severity of corruption. "Corruption in Iraq is politically protected. Therefore, fighting it becomes very complex. It is directly linked to the nature and structure of the political system," Ghalib Aldaamy, a journalism professor and former Integrity Commission employee, told Al Jazeera. He noted that some perpetrators do not even consider it wrong due to religious beliefs that public property belongs to no one.