Sulaimani robbery mastermind arrested: Police

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Sulaimani security forces have arrested the mastermind of the March robbery of close to $1 billion Iraqi dinars in public servant salaries, the city’s police said on Thursday.

The incident occurred on March 12 in broad daylight. Several gunmen ambushed an unprotected van that was carrying salaries of employees of Shar Hospital. They carjacked the vehicle and parked it at an inconspicuous area of the city, transporting the cash to their runaway cars before fleeing. 

Just a day later, security forces arrested seven suspects with alleged ties to the robbery and recovered the stolen funds. However, as stated by Sulaimani Police and reiterated on March 24, the mastermind behind the act had yet to be captured.

“Sulaimani security forces were able to arrest the leader of the gang [which] stole the salaries of Shar Hospital,” Sulaimani Police Communications Director, Sarkawt Ahmed, told Kurdistan 24. He could not reveal the date of the capture but claimed the accused had “admitted to his crimes.”

Initial reports on the amount of cash stolen, quoting police sources, differed and claimed it was the equivalent of as high as $1.5 million USD. Later reports brought the number down to about $840.000.

After its confiscation, the funds were transported to Shar Hospital, this time accompanied by police, and distributed among the employees of the hospital.

Editing by Nadia Riva