The theft of the century brings down big heads… and warnings against entering the culture of deals
Instead of the television interview broadcast by Al Sharqiya channel with the first accused in the theft of the century, Nour Zuhair, being a starting point for whitewashing his black page, its results were counterproductive for him, and by rearranging the papers of this case that was raised again and forcefully.
MP Mustafa Sand announced that the Anti-Corruption Criminal Court issued an order to arrest Nour Zuhair, who appeared in photos injured in a fabricated traffic accident in Lebanon.
It seems that this issue will take on other dimensions, especially after the great pressures on the government, which did not reveal all the facts and secrets of this important issue, which consumed about three billion US dollars from the Iraqi people’s money.
Zuhair and a number of figures were arrested in the theft of the century, before he and the others were released after they returned part of the theft money.
The case was reinvestigated after an arrest warrant was issued for Nour Zuhair and former MP Haitham al-Jubouri.
Informed sources reported today, Tuesday, that the investigation into the theft of the century may involve media professionals in the investigation.
The sources, who refused to reveal their identity, told Al-Maalouma Agency that “a number of media figures’ names were put forward in this case and may be drawn into the investigation.”
But the sources refused to reveal the names of the journalists.
The sources revealed that pressures were placed on the government, which prompted it to review the file completely and to review the names accused of involvement in this theft.
She added, “Among the names reviewed is former MP Haitham Al-Jubouri, against whom the court issued a decision to arrest him again.”
She added, “The file is currently at the forefront of the federal government’s attention, indicating that former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is involved in the file and possesses many of its secrets.”
The sources did not rule out “the possibility of other new figures slipping into the picture, other than the figures whose involvement in the theft was announced.”
The secrets of the theft of tax trust funds and the figures involved in it were revealed day after day, at a time when fingers of accusation point to the involvement of officials of the previous government headed by Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, and this was confirmed by the head of the Federal Integrity Commission, Haider Hanoun, recently, when he drew red lines around four major figures.
It is noteworthy that Nour Zuhair’s trial was postponed to 27/8, due to the defendant’s failure to appear before the court under the pretext of traveling outside Iraq, in addition to his appearance in a previous televised interview in which he spoke boldly that he would expose major figures involved in this matter.
The leader of the Fatah Alliance, member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Moeen Al-Kazemi, stressed today, Tuesday, the necessity for the government to activate its contacts with Interpol to extradite the persons accused of stealing the century, indicating at the same time that he was not aware of the presence of former MP Haitham Al-Jubouri inside or outside Iraq.
It is noteworthy that Al-Jubouri is one of the people accused in this case, as he was arrested on November 30, 2022, when he was holding the position of financial advisor to former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. Al-Jubouri was released at the time after his wife returned an amount of four billion to the state treasury.
Al-Kadhimi told Al-Maalouma Agency, “We do not have information whether Al-Jubouri is inside or outside Iraq, stressing that the arrest warrant against him was issued by the Criminal Court, calling on the government to activate its role with Interpol because the crime has become international and is related to money laundering.”
He also called on the countries in which the suspects in the theft of the century are located to “cooperate with Iraq to extradite them and try them inside Iraq.”
Al-Kadhimi considered that “the reported incident of the accused in the crime of theft of the century, Nour Zuhair, in Beirut, was fabricated to escape the trial, contrary to what the accused claimed on a satellite channel regarding his readiness to attend the case’s pleadings.”
The previous arrest warrant against Haitham Al-Jubouri came as a result of investigations and inquiries into his funds conducted by the Prevention Department of the Federal Integrity Commission, into the values of real estate and vehicles, and the quantities of gold belonging to him, in addition to loans and his salary as an advisor to the Prime Minister at the time.
At that time, the department concluded that there was an inflation in his funds estimated at sixteen billion, one hundred and fifty-seven million, and two hundred and ninety-one thousand dinars.
It is noteworthy that Article (19/Second) of the Integrity and Illicit Gains Commission Law No. (30 of 2011) as amended included imposing a prison sentence of no less than seven years and a fine equal to the value of the illicit gain on every person charged with the crime mentioned in Article (16/First) of the law who fails to prove a legitimate reason for the significant increase in his money or the money of his wife or children, provided that those convicted shall not be released except after paying the fine and returning the value of the illicit gain.
For his part, MP Ali Nehme raised legitimate questions about Nour Zuhair’s file.
“Nour Zuhair is accused according to the law of involvement in stealing huge sums of money and he was arrested and paid some of it to the state treasury according to government data, wondering how he was allowed to leave prison,” Nehme told Al-Maalouma Agency.
He added that “the investigation results of the theft of the century have not yet been announced to the public, stressing the need to clarify who supported the accused and was involved with him in order to clarify the truth of what happened and what is the fate of the money estimated at about 3 billion dollars.”
He pointed out that “the accused of stealing public funds must remain behind bars and their travel outside the country means the possibility of escaping punishment, stressing that Nour Zuhair’s file carries many question marks that must be answered and clarifying what are the reasons that led to letting him travel despite the fact that he is accused of serious cases.”
National figures warned against this theft entering into the culture of deals to release some of the accused.
Almaalomah.me