More than two-thirds of the Council of Representatives did not disclose their financial assets during first quarter of this year
Issuance of (33) arrest warrants, subpoenas, travel bans against ministers, officials ranked ministers during first quarter of this year
CoI investigated, referred to justice 6219 criminal cases during first quarter of this year
Issuance of 1581 subpoenas, 473 arrest warrants, referral of 1019 accused persons of corruption cases to justice
Recovery of what in trust of 50 former officials within File of Recovering State Funds and Property recovery file
Return of real estates amounted to tens of billions to state property after seizing their petitions with forgery
The Commission of Integrity (CoI) revealed the details of its investigative, legal, preventive and educational achievements for the past three months, highlighting the achievements of its offices, directorates and investigation offices throughout Iraq except Kurdistan.
CoI announced that the public funds that were recovered or judicial rulings were issued to recover them, and which CoI prevented and stopped wasting and returned to public treasury amounted to (288.659.506.888) billion dinars.
It pointed out that it has worked for the period 1/1/2018 until 31/3/2018 of the current year on (9832) information, whistleblowing and criminal cases; 4443 of which were completed, indicating that the percentage of completing the whistleblowing was 94%, while the number of criminal cases CoI investigated was 6219; 2356 of which were completed.
CoI’s investigations led to the issuance of 1573 arrest warrants by the judicial authorities; 619 of which were carried out during the same period, with a 54.30% completion percentage, while the number of ministers and those of their rank against whom 30 arrest warrants were issued was 17 ministers; and 221 arrest warrants issued against 117 officials of special positions and directors-general.
The number of judicial subpoenas issued during the same period is 1581, (896) of which were carried out, indicating that (9) ministries and those ranked ministers 10 subpoenas were issued against them. While 162 subpoenas were issued against 156 DGs and special ranks, as well as 382 arrest warrants were issued, 7 of which were issued against 5 special ranks employees and DGs. The number of justice ban travel decisions amounted 114, 40 of which were issued by the justice and 74 decisions issued by COI, 6 out of which were issued against ministries and those ranked ministers.
COI address the operations of seizure money at the same period, indicating that 114 seizure operations were carried out, 29 operations carried out by Basra investigation Directorate, 13 operations carried out by Baghdad investigation Directorate, 7 operations carried out by Nineveh investigation Directorate and 65 operations carried out by COI’s directorates in all governorates except KRG. COI indicating that the number of seized persons caught in act amounted 113 suspects, supporting with seized exhibits and based on proper seizure minutes organized by team of COI and presented to investigative entities, confirming that the amounts which were seized in said operations amounted 201,140,000 dinars and 6400 US dollars.
In the same period, COI worked on 226 files of fugitive suspects wanted for corruption cases, 33 files was prepared, COI also working on 170 files of were recovered of smuggled money, 3 files were prepared.
COI received 7471 financial disclosure forms, the response ratio of presidents of republic, ministers, parliament and judiciary were 100 percent, Vice-President of the Republic was 100 percent, Deputies of the head of Representatives council were 100 percent, ministers ; 81 percent, where four ministers did not disclose their financial status up to the hour of preparation of this report, the heads of commissions and non-related ministries were 62 percent where eleven of them were not disclose their financial status, and 28 percent members of the council of Representatives where 234 did not disclose their financial status.
Due to its keenness to protect and not waste state funds and in order to ensure using such funds rationally, COI worked on the important files in this regard through serious steps, the most important of these lies in the measures taken in connection with the file of state funds still in the hands of former officials and the State Real Estate File, accordingly COI formed sub-teams are working in the governorates under supervision of a central team in its headquarters, under take inventory of the of state-owned or seized or confiscated properties for the Ministry of Finance, titled, sold or rented to employees (Higher ranked officials or others at the same rank) or those assigned with public service weather it was sale, allocation, titling or renting unlike law, applicable regulations or it was in return for unfair assessment of rent. CoI presidency addressed his Excellency the PM and Secretariat-General of the cabinet to review the contracts. The prime minister agreed upon that and the Secretariat-General of the cabinet formed a high-ranking committee to follow up the subject. As a complementary step, the work teams were able to find financial violations in selling, purchasing and allocating state properties in which its value reached up to IQDs 4.353.014.221.
CoI presidency took urgent exceptional procedures regarding the state assets and money in trust of the former officials and were not returned back yet to the concerned institutions. CoI commissioner gave his instructions to form a specialized work team to detect, investigate, follow up and recover the state assets and money still in the trust of the former officials according to the applicable legal regulations and keenness to enforce the law without exceptions in order to preserve public money.
CoI efforts in the investigation field resulted in recovering what in the trust of 50 former officials out of 92 officials.
CoI indicated that it formed auditing investigation field work teams at different state institutions and ministries, noting that the number of the criminal cases resulted from the work of the field teams reached 47 criminal cases, 13 cases of which were transmitted to the competent court of subject and 6 cases were closed according to judicial decisions while the remaining cases are still under investigation. It added that it formed secret inspection field teams included eight administrative formations to the state ministries through 3 site visits. The work of the central team concerned with following up the results of the mobile inspection teams through controlling the performance of 9 administrative formations and branches in different state institutions to check of the service level provided to the citizens by achieving 3 inspection visits made by the teams. The public service performance evaluation teams have performed several visits in Baghdad and provinces reached to 562 visits included 284 administrative formations at 27 ministries and non-governmental bodies to promote the work progress procedures and transparency in different service offices, in addition to following up implementing the requirements of the Anti- Bribery National Campaign.
In regard to the completed legislation bills achieved by CoI and the measures taken within the same period, CoI indicated that the General Secretariat of the cabinet agreed upon the draft of law developed by CoI such as illicit gain law, the first amendment law on CoI law no. 30 of 2011 and the amendment law of the Disciplinary Law of the State Officials and Public Service amended no.14 of 1991. The law drafts were sent to the Parliaments to be ratified in addition to drafting bill amendment no.21 on the Cadres Law no.25 of 1960 sent to the Council State for the purpose of reviewing, auditing and giving remarks, While a Road Map has been made to fight corruption in Iraq that clarifies the procedures that should be applied by government, Cabinet and the State Institutions in the short and long term. COI conformed that a Road Map was sent to the Presidency of the Republic, Cabinet and the Council of Representative, in addition to other State Institutions, where COI made the outline for their work in line with anti-corruption advocacies launched by the government and parliament currently.
It contained educational and awareness activates that COI lunched that includes, many programs, campaigns, activities, workshop and seminar. Such as the awareness program hand in hand [together] with integrity in its second and third phase that COI organized in cooperation with UNDP in order to clarify the opinions of COI in the cases that need support and strengthen anti-corruption efforts among societies, as well as organizing hundreds of guides, educational and awareness activates that COI lunches, where it included many programs, campaigns, activities, courses workshop and seminar meeting. Continuous learning courses, penal discussion and other activities that includes tens of thousands of participants.
