An Iraqi fund tasked with recovering stolen state assets has uncovered a potential corruption scandal after 600 million dinars (approximately $414 million) went missing from the disbanded National Council’s account.
According to Ayman Daoud, the fund’s deputy chairman, an audit team was dispatched to investigate irregular transfers from the former National Council account at al-Rasheed Bank’s Salihiya branch.
The statement revealed that in August 2003, a series of unauthorized cash withdrawals amounting to 191,715,508 dinars were made, followed by a depletion of the remaining balance of 406,388,649 dinars.
After investigating the al-Rasheed Bank branch at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the National Council’s account was merged in 2007, there was no evidence found that the funds were transferred to any government entity or official channels.
The team did not find any documentation of offsetting transactions or notifications concerning the missing funds.
According to the probe, the last legitimate transaction on the account was traced back to April 3, 2003, with a deposit of 500 million dinars. However, after the dissolution of the National Council on April 9, 2003, the account should have been frozen and any remaining funds transferred to the Ministry of Finance. Unfortunately, unauthorized withdrawals continued throughout August 2003, which raised serious red flags.
“The branch manager, authorized personnel, and account and accounting officers are responsible for this apparent malfeasance, as this pattern strongly suggests potential corruption in the illegal appropriation of the account’s balance,” Daoud declared.
