Babil: sentences against former governors and municipal directors over land allocations, a IQD 14 billion vehicle contract and investment awards (from 2015 to 2025)
In September 2015 the Babil integrity investigation judge summoned Governor Sadiq Madlool al-Sultani and his first deputy Wisam Aslan over a customs exemption for Iranian cement, and former governor Mohammed al-Masoudi over the al-Umma overpass in Hilla. In November 2019 the Babil criminal court ordered the arrest of Governor Karrar al-Abadi, and in January 2020 a new warrant was issued against the suspended governor and a former Hilla municipality director over land distribution. The Integrity Commission later announced many sentences against a former governor of Babil without naming him: three years in absentia for signing a contract of more than IQD 14 billion with the state car company to equip the Hilla municipality (November 2020), sentences over plots allotted to families of martyrs and over car parks (2022), six years over the Qasim fruit market (January 2023) and seven sentences totalling 15 years and 6 months (June 2023). Shafaq News named al-Abadi in a five-year sentence (March 2022). Former Babil municipalities director Ahmed Mohsen Nasser and former Hilla municipality director Hussein Ali Jassim each received two years in absentia (2024 and 2025).
- Period
- From 2011 to March 2025
- Sector
- Local government and reconstructionProvincial governors and municipal directorates (Babil): land allocation, contracts and investment awards
- Kind of case
- Criminal prosecution
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved
Commercial and public land allocated as residential plots or swapped, investment opportunities granted without announcement, contracts signed outside the contract rules and overpriced purchases, according to the Integrity Commission and the courts.
What happened
Karrar al-Abadi: arrest warrant (November 2019); five years under Article 340 (March 2022, as named by Shafaq News). Unnamed former governor: three years (November 2020, upheld on appeal in April 2021), two sentences totalling seven years (March 2022), three totalling six years (April 2022), six years (January 2023) and seven totalling 15 years and 6 months (June 2023), all or mostly in absentia. Sadiq Madlool al-Sultani: summoned (2015); six months and a fine, recalled by Rudaw. Ahmed Mohsen Nasser: two years in absentia (March 2025). Hussein Ali Jassim: two years in absentia (September 2024). Unnamed Hilla municipality directors: three years in person (2019) and several two-year sentences (2022, 2023).
Open questions
- Which of the Babil governors each unnamed ruling concerns.
- Whether Karrar al-Abadi has been arrested and whether any sentence was reviewed.
- Date and subject of the six-month sentence of Sadiq Madlool al-Sultani.
- Result of the 2015 summonses over Iranian cement and the al-Umma overpass.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karrar al-Abadi كرار العبادي | Governor of Babil (2019; later suspended) | Convicted (reported) | Asharq Al-Awsat reported on 21 November 2019 that the Babil criminal court had ordered his arrest. Shafaq News reported on 31 March 2022 that the Babil criminal court (third panel for integrity cases) had sentenced him to five years' rigorous imprisonment under Article 340; the Integrity Commission's statement on that ruling, which does not name him, says the fugitive former governor approved residential plots on a prime commercial site within an allocation list for families of martyrs and the wounded. The Commission's statements on the other rulings against a former governor of Babil (2020 to 2023) give no name. No arrest is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
| Sadiq Madlool al-Sultani صادق مدلول السلطاني | Governor of Babil (from 2013) | Convicted (reported) | Rudaw Arabic, in a report of 16 November 2020, recalled a statement of the Hilla misdemeanour court judge that the court had sentenced Babil governor Sadiq Madlool al-Sultani to six months' simple imprisonment and a fine of IQD 1 million under Article 331; the date and subject of that ruling are not given. In September 2015 the Babil integrity investigation judge summoned him and his first deputy over the entry of large quantities of Iranian cement exempted from customs duties. | 19 October 2026 |
| Former governor of Babil in the 2020 to 2023 rulings (unnamed) محافظ بابل السابق في أحكام 2020 إلى 2023 (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Governor of Babil (former or earlier) | Convicted (reported) | The Integrity Commission named only the post. November 2020: three years' rigorous imprisonment in absentia (Hilla misdemeanour court, Article 331) for signing a contract of more than IQD 14 billion between the governorate and the state car company to equip the Hilla municipality, upheld by the Babil appeals court in April 2021. April 2022: three sentences totalling six years, including plots allocated on land set aside for car parks and open spaces. January 2023: six years with former municipal directors over the Qasim fruit and vegetable market given as an exclusive investment after a lease auction won at IQD 481 million was cancelled. June 2023: seven sentences in absentia totalling 15 years and 6 months, including a car park at the Babil tourist resort leased for IQD 2.5 million and five exclusive investment opportunities. The rulings may concern more than one person. | 19 October 2026 |
| Ahmed Mohsen Nasser أحمد محسن ناصر | Director of Babil municipalities (former) | Convicted (reported) | The Hilla integrity misdemeanour court sentenced him in absentia to two years' rigorous imprisonment for granting an exclusive investment opportunity on state property not listed in the investment map of the Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities and Public Works, and ordered the seizure of his property (Integrity Commission statement relayed by 964, 27 March 2025). | 19 October 2026 |
| Hussein Ali Jassim حسين علي جاسم | Director of the Hilla municipality (earlier) | Convicted (reported) | The Hilla misdemeanour court sentenced him in absentia to two years' rigorous imprisonment under Article 331 for failing to remove encroachments on both banks of the Yahudiya river and the green belt of the al-Jamiya district and for making or renewing contracts on the green belt against the rules (Integrity Commission statement, 11 September 2024). | 19 October 2026 |
| Former directors of the Hilla and Qasim municipalities and of Babil municipalities, and the head of the Hilla purchasing committee (unnamed) مديرون سابقون لبلديتي الحلة والقاسم ولبلديات بابل ورئيس لجنة المشتريات في بلدية الحلة (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم) | Municipal directors and a purchasing committee head, Babil | Convicted (reported) | The Integrity Commission did not name them. November 2019: the Babil criminal court sentenced the former director of the Hilla municipality and the head of its purchasing committee in person to three years over waste containers supplied by a company. January 2020: arrest warrant for a former Hilla municipality director with the suspended governor over land distribution. January 2023: six years for former directors of Babil municipalities and of the Qasim municipality with an earlier governor, and two two-year sentences in absentia for a former director of Babil municipalities over dump trucks bought without need. June 2023: two years for an earlier Hilla municipality director with the governor over a plot allotted to a martyr's family swapped for another. | 19 October 2026 |
| Wisam Aslan وسام أصلان | First deputy governor of Babil (2015) | Under investigation | The Babil integrity investigation judge summoned him with the governor over the entry of large quantities of Iranian cement exempted from customs duties (statement relayed by Alsumaria, 22 September 2015). No later step is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
| Mohammed al-Masoudi محمد المسعودي | Governor of Babil (earlier); member of Parliament in 2015 | Under investigation | The Babil integrity investigation judge summoned him over the al-Umma overpass project in Hilla, carried out while he was governor (statement relayed by Alsumaria, 22 September 2015). No later step is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
Sources
- Alsumaria News (statement of the Babil integrity investigation judge)22 September 2015Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
تحقيق النزاهة تصدر اوامر استقدام بحق محافظ بابل ونائبه الاول
Original address"المحكمة أصدرت أوامر استقدام بحق محافظ بابل صادق مدلول ونائبه الأول وسام أصلان على خلفية اتهامهما بفساد مالي". وأضاف حميد،
- Alsumaria News24 November 2019Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة توضح تفاصيل الأحكام الصادرة بحق مسؤولين في بابل
Original addressأصدرت حكماً حضورياً بحبس المُدانين كلٍّ من مدير بلدية الحلة السابق ورئيس لجنة المشتريات في البلدية بالحبس لمدة ثلاث سنوات، في قضية
- Alsumaria News16 January 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: أمر قبض جديد بحق محافظ بابل وتوقيف مستشاره القانوني
Original addressأصدرت أمر قبض وتحر بحق المحافظ وفقا لأحكام المادة (340) من قانون العقوبات، إضافة إلى أمر قبض وتحر بحق مدير بلدية الحلة السابق وفق
- Alsumaria News12 November 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: الحبس الشديد لمحافظ بابل السابق لإضراره المال العام بــ14 مليار دينار
Original addressقام بالإضرار بالمال العام عبر توقيعه عقداً بين ديوان المحافظة والشركة العامَّة لصناعة السيَّارات؛ لغرض تجهيز بلديَّة الحلة بآلياتٍ خلافاً
- Rudaw Arabic16 November 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة توضح تفاصيل الحكم بسجن محافظ بابل السابق لمخالفات عقد قيمته 14 ملياراً
Original addressبحق محافظ بابل، صادق مدلول السلطاني، لإدانته بقضايا فساد مالي وإداري، استناداً
- Alsumaria News14 April 2021Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: المصادقـة على قـرار الحبس الشديد لمحافظ بابل السابق
Original addressعن مصادقة محكمة استئناف بابل الاتحاديَّة على قرار الحكم بالحبس الشديد الصادر بحقِّ محافظ بابل السابق؛
- Shafaq News31 March 2022Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
"7 سنوات حبس شديد".. تفاصيل قراري حكم بحق محافظ هارب
Original addressلخمس سنوات بحق محافظ بابل الأسبق كرار العبادي وفق المادة 340 عن
- Alsumaria News30 April 2022Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تعلن صدور ثلاثة أحكام بالحبس الشديد بحق محافظ بابل السابق
Original addressصادق في القضيَّة الأولى على تخصيص قطع أراضٍ سكنيَّـةٍ لمُواطنين تبيَّن لاحقاً أنَّها مُخصَّصةٌ كساحاتٍ لوقوف السيَّارات وفضاءاتٍ مفتوحةٍ على
- Baghdad Today12 January 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: السجن لمحافظ بابل الاسبق ومديري البلديات والصحة للاضرار بالمال العام
Original addressأصدرت حكماً بالسجن لمُدَّة ست سنواتٍ على مُحافظ بابل الأسبق ومُديري بلديَّات بابل وبلديَّة القاسم سابقاً؛ لإحداثهم الضرر عمداً بأموال ومصالح المُحافظة،
- 96417 June 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: الحبس الشديد لأكثر من 15 سنة بحق محافظ بابل الأسبق الهارب
Original addressصدور 7 أحكام غيابية بالحبس الشديد لمدة 15 سنة و6 أشهر، بحق محافظ بابل الأسبق،
- Baghdad Today11 September 2024Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: الحبس الشديد لمدير بلدية الحلة الأسبق لمخالفته واجباته الوظيفية
Original addressبحقّ (حسين علي جاسم) مدير بلديَّة الحلة الأسبق؛ لتعمُّده مُخالفة واجباته الوظيفيَّة المتمثلة بعدم رفع التجاوزات الحاصلة على جانبي نهر
- 964 (English)27 March 2025Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
Former Babil municipalities director sentenced in absentia for corruption
Original addressAhmed Mohsen Nasser, the former director of municipalities in Babylon governorate, has been sentenced in absentia to two years of high-security imprisonment for violating his
- Asharq Al-Awsat21 November 2019Press reportTier D
«النزاهة» العراقية تصدر أوامر قبض ضد مسؤولين متهمين بالفساد
Original addressكانت محكمة جنايات بابل أصدرت الأحد الماضي، أمراً بإلقاء القبض على محافظ بابل كرار العبادي، ... أصدرت محكمة جنايات الديوانية قراراً بحجز الأموال المنقولة وغير المنقولة لرئيس مجلس ... عن صدور أمر استقدام بحق 13 عضواً من مجلس محافظة كركوك