Companies Registrar of the Ministry of Trade: a cashier sentenced in absentia to 55 years in all and returned from the UAE (2026)

On 16 September 2026 the Integrity Commission said Mohammed Ismat Mohammed Saeed, a former cashier at the Companies Registrar department of the Ministry of Trade, had been returned from the United Arab Emirates. Courts had given him four sentences in absentia under Article 315 of the Penal Code, totalling 55 years, for taking more than IQD 1.031 billion while he worked as cashier, by manipulating receipts and revenue records, entering false amounts and keeping the differences. The judgments also ordered the seizure of his movable and immovable property and kept the right of the injured party to claim compensation in the civil courts. The Commission said the evidence included the statements of the legal representatives of the ministry and of the Registrar, witnesses, an administrative investigation and his flight. It had sent four extradition files to the UAE and obtained an Interpol red notice before his arrest and return.