Irregularities Found in State-Run Fund for Rebuilding Areas Damaged by ISIS
According to a government investigation and audit committee, Iraq's state-run fund is mired in irregularities when it comes to rebuilding areas damaged by ISIS.
After taking office in October last year, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani has scrutinized deals signed by the previous government and ordered an investigation into alleged corruption.
According to critics, the moves target rivals of his main backers, the Iran-backed political factions that constitute the largest parliamentary bloc.
Projects financed under the Emergency Law for Food Security and Development and implemented by the Reconstruction Fund for Areas Affected by Terrorist Operations were the focus of the investigation.
Parliament approved the law last June as political wrangling over forming a new government delayed the passage of a budget.
Under the law, 25 trillion Iraqi dinars ($16.9 billion) will be used to subsidise food, improve service delivery, and continue vital reconstruction and development projects.
Several items of the contracts were overpriced, the investigation committee said in a statement late on Sunday.
Furthermore, some similar items were priced very differently between contracts.
In some contracts and documents submitted by the contracting companies, the signatures of some CEOs were forged."
The reconstruction authority also signed deals with newly established companies with low solvency ratios and lacking the necessary expertise, skills, and capabilities to implement the projects within one day and complete procedures that usually take time within one day.
According to the report, the fund failed to distribute the projects fairly among the beneficiaries and failed to meet the government's goals.
In addition to sending the report's findings to the specialized court and the anti-corruption commission, the Prime Minister approved its recommendations.
The statement did not provide losses or details of the projects in question.
Iraqi security forces and ISIS militants, who had occupied about one-third of the country a year earlier, fought a grueling war in 2015 that led to the creation of the reconstruction fund.
Iraq announced victory over ISIS in late 2017 after three years of fighting that left large north and west areas in ruins. Millions of Iraqis remain without clean water, adequate electricity, and proper healthcare.
Rebuilding of the damaged areas is the fund's mandate, which is either funded directly by the government or indirectly by donors.
The head of the fund, Mohammed Al-Ani, was dismissed by Mr Al Sudani in June due to suspected corruption.
As trade minister from 2018 to 2020, Mr Al Ani was replaced by Saad Faisal Al Jabouri, the former general director of Al Mishraq Sulphur Company.
After Saddam Hussein's regime was overthrown in 2003, corruption became an important feature of Iraq's political landscape.
In 2022, Transparency International ranked the country 157 out of 180 nations for corruption perception.
