Kathleen Ridolfo,
RFE/RL Iraq Reports, Volume 7, Number 2
January 16, 2004

Iraq: An unnamed official at the Iraqi Trade Ministry told London’s “Al-Sharq al-Awsat” that the ministry plans on suing companies and prosecuting former regime officials for corrupt practices, the daily reported on Jan. 13. According to the source, documents and trade contracts by the former regime reveal large-scale embezzlement by senior Hussein regime officials, including one case in the amount of $40 million.

The source also told “Al-Sharq al-Awsat” that the ministry’s director of economic relations, Fakhr al-Din Rayshan was dismissed from his position, while a former supervisor, Yusuf al-Ani, has been put on a two-month leave because of their connection to the above-mentioned embezzlement scheme. The source mentioned other embezzlement schemes within the ministry, but declined to disclose details.

The same article also noted that investigators from the Department of Financial Auditing and the Iraqi Central Bank traveled to Washington to continue an investigation for missing Iraqi assets that were deposited abroad by prominent former regime officials. One discovery made during the course of the investigation has revealed that some $495 million in Iraqi funds belonging to four bodies including an oil company and a bank were deposited in 30 banks across Lebanon. The Department of Financial Auditing also said that some $800 million in Iraqi funds were deposited in Jordanian banks. An official also told the daily that $3.3 billion was transferred outside Iraq since 2000.