Nasiriyah Land Corruption Ring Busted
Iraq's Integrity Commission arrested 15 Nasiriyah municipality employees in a major land corruption scheme involving forgery and illegal sales. One suspect connected to the network remains at large.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Iraqi Commission of Integrity has dismantled a significant corruption and forgery network operating within the Nasiriyah Municipality Directorate, arresting 15 employees allegedly involved in a scheme centered on the illegal registration and sale of residential land, with one suspect still at large.
The commission’s investigation office in Dhi Qar province announced the operation in a statement, detailing the process that led to the arrests. An investigation team was formed after the commission received information about suspected corruption inside the municipality. This team successfully uncovered the network's activities.
During the operation, authorities seized hundreds of transactions related to the registration of residential land owned by the municipality. According to the Integrity Commission, these transactions were found in the possession of the accused, who had acted in direct violation of established rules and regulations.
The investigation revealed that the accused employees employed several illicit methods for personal gain. The commission reported that the suspects used blank documents and official receipts to create fraudulent paperwork. They are also accused of forging files and other official documents to facilitate their scheme.
Furthermore, the Integrity Commission's team discovered that the network had pressured citizens who were involved in the land transactions to purchase receipts. Investigators also found sales agreements from the residential landowners as part of the illicit process. The accused subsequently published official-looking reports on these land sales, which themselves contained violations of the rules, likely in an attempt to legitimize the corrupt transactions.
Based on the evidence gathered, the statement noted that arrest warrants were issued for the accused individuals. Fifteen of the suspects have since been arrested by authorities. However, the commission confirmed that one of the suspects remains free and has not yet been apprehended.
