He stole two and a half billion dollars and was about to smuggle them in a private plane

On Monday, the Iraqi security forces arrested a businessman accused of involvement in the "theft" case of 2,5 billion dollars in tax funds while he was trying to leave Iraq, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior.

In addition, the statement issued by the Minister of Interior Othman Al-Ghanimi announced that "Noor Zuhair Jassim was arrested at Baghdad International Airport while he was trying to leave the country by a private plane."

companies involved
An official letter issued by the Tax Authority revealed that $2,5 billion was withdrawn between September 2021 and August 2022 from the Rafidain Governmental Bank, through 247 financial instruments, issued to five companies that disbursed them in cash directly.

For its part, the Governmental Integrity Commission said in a statement on Monday that the suspect is the "delegated director of the (Al-Mobdeoon) Company for Oil Services Ltd.", and he is "one of the accused in the case of the amounts of tax deposits deposited in the branches of the Rafidain Bank."

The judiciary had previously heard statements from a number of officials in the Tax Authority on this issue, and also issued arrest warrants against the owners of companies accused of withdrawing funds.

Iraq ranks 157 (out of 180) in Transparency International's "Perceptions of Corruption" index. In cases of corruption, prosecutions often target officials in secondary positions.

It is noteworthy that this issue, which came out to the media in mid-October, sparked widespread controversy in Iraq, which is rich in oil, but suffers from chronic corruption.