Diyala governors: sentences in absentia against former governors over contracts, spending and land (from 2016 to 2023)
Integrity Commission statements report a series of sentences in absentia against former governors of Diyala. In December 2016 the Baqubah misdemeanour court gave Abdul Nasser al-Muntasir Billah al-Mahdawi, governor from 2009, five years in each of three cases. In September 2017 the Diyala criminal court gave him seven years over contracts made by direct invitation, including one with a Turkish company in Baqubah, and gave former governor Omar Aziz Hussein (al-Humairi) six years over an overpriced furniture project. In November 2017 former governor Amer Salman Yakoub received seven years for paying a company for unfinished work on a cable project worth IQD 2.765 billion, with damage of nearly IQD 3 billion. In May 2018 al-Mahdawi and the former director of a satellite channel received seven years each over damage of IQD 1.12 billion. Later rulings named only an earlier governor: six years over IQD 500 million paid in cash (2020), four years over the Diyala river lining project (2021) and three years over a land allocation (2023). A former assistant governor received seven years in 2020.
- Period
- From 2009 to October 2023
- Sector
- Local government and reconstructionProvincial governors (Diyala): contracts, spending and land
- Kind of case
- Criminal prosecution
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved
Contracts by direct invitation or above the cost estimate, payments for work not done, cash payments approved against the objection of the accounts director, and state land allocated against the rules, according to the Integrity Commission and the courts.
What happened
Abdul Nasser al-Muntasir Billah al-Mahdawi: three five-year sentences (December 2016), seven years (September 2017), seven years (May 2018), all in absentia. Omar Aziz Hussein: six years in absentia (September 2017). Amer Salman Yakoub: seven years in absentia (November 2017). Unnamed: the former director of a satellite channel, seven years (May 2018); a former assistant governor, seven years (August 2020); an earlier governor, six years (October 2020), four years (February 2021) and three years (April 2023); a former governor summoned (October 2023).
Open questions
- Which former governor the 2020, 2021 and 2023 rulings concern.
- Whether any of the men has been arrested or handed over, or any sentence reviewed.
- Names of the Turkish company and of the companies in the cable, furniture and river lining contracts.
- Result of the October 2023 summons over relief advances for displaced families.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdul Nasser al-Muntasir Billah عبد الناصر المنتصر بالله | Governor of Diyala (from 2009) | Convicted (reported) | Integrity Commission statements relayed by the press: in December 2016 the Baqubah misdemeanour court sentenced him in absentia to five years' rigorous imprisonment in each of three cases (Articles 331, 340 and 341); in September 2017 the Diyala criminal court (second panel) gave him seven years in absentia for making contracts by direct invitation, signing a contract with a Turkish company in Baqubah and directing the Baqubah municipality to put its machinery at the company's service; in May 2018 the Diyala criminal court (first panel) gave him and the former director of a satellite channel seven years each over damage of IQD 1,119,525,000 in the channel project. His 2025 sentence over car loans is in Former ministers, governors and officials sentenced, from 2024 to 2026 (Integrity Commission statements). | 19 October 2026 |
| Omar Aziz Hussein (Omar al-Humairi) عمر عزيز حسين | Governor of Diyala (former) | Convicted (reported) | The Diyala criminal court (second panel) sentenced him in absentia to six years over a project to furnish state offices in the province, finding overpricing in the prices and quantities supplied, no price-checking committee, an award above the cost estimate and short announcement periods (Integrity Commission statement, 20 September 2017). Middle East Monitor gives his name as Omar al-Humeiri. | 19 October 2026 |
| Amer Salman Yakoub عامر سلمان يعكوب | Governor of Diyala (former) | Convicted (reported) | The Diyala criminal court (second panel) sentenced him in absentia to seven years under Article 340 for paying a company for work not done on two underground cable lines for the Khalis power station, a 7 km project contracted for IQD 2,765,000,000 of which only 1 km was built; the court put the damage at nearly IQD 3 billion (Integrity Commission statement, 21 November 2017). | 19 October 2026 |
| Former director of a satellite channel in Diyala (unnamed) المدير السابق لإحدى القنوات الفضائية في ديالى (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Director of a satellite channel run by the Diyala governorate | Convicted (reported) | Sentenced in absentia with the former governor to seven years under Article 340; the Integrity Commission said the governor had authorised him to negotiate with the company supplying and running the channel and that he released the company from liability for damaged materials, causing a loss of IQD 1,119,525,000 (statement of 7 May 2018). Not named. | 19 October 2026 |
| Former assistant governor of Diyala (unnamed) معاون محافظ ديالى الأسبق (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Assistant governor of Diyala; acting head of the bid analysis committee | Convicted (reported) | Sentenced to seven years, with the seizure of his property confirmed, for excluding the lowest bid in a rainwater sewer network project in Diyala against the government contract rules while acting head of the bid analysis committee (Integrity Commission statement, 12 August 2020). Not named. | 19 October 2026 |
| Earlier governor of Diyala in the 2020, 2021 and 2023 rulings (unnamed) محافظ ديالى الأسبق في أحكام 2020 و2021 و2023 (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Governor of Diyala (earlier) | Convicted (reported) | The Integrity Commission named only the post. October 2020: six years in absentia (Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court, Article 340) for approving IQD 500 million, received in cash by the Baqubah cleaning committee and passed to another party, against the objection of the governorate's accounts director. February 2021: four years' rigorous imprisonment in absentia (Karkh integrity misdemeanour court, Article 341) for awarding the Diyala river lining project by direct invitation for IQD 24,254,125,000 against an estimate of IQD 22,420,240,000. April 2023: three years in absentia (Diyala criminal court, Article 340) for directing the Baqubah municipality to allocate a plot east of Shifta as a truck park. The rulings may concern more than one person. | 19 October 2026 |
| Former governor of Diyala summoned in October 2023 (unnamed) محافظ ديالى السابق المستقدم في تشرين الأول 2023 (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Governor of Diyala (former) | Under investigation | The Karkh second investigation court summoned him under Article 331 on the findings of a Board of Supreme Audit report on the advances of the committees distributing grants, shelter and relief to displaced families in Diyala from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015 (Integrity Commission statement, 23 October 2023). Not named; no later step is on record. | 19 October 2026 |
Sources
- Kurdistan2422 December 2016Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
العراق يحكم بسجن محافظ اسبق 15 عاما لـ"إلحاقه ضررا جسيما" بالمال العام
Original addressأعلنت هيئة النزاهة في العراق الخميس عن صدور أحكام غيابية تقضي بسجن محافظ ديالى الأسبق عبد الناصر المهداوي 15 عاما لارتكابه ممارسات
- Alsumaria News20 September 2017Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: الحكم بالسجن على محافظي ديالى السابقين لإلحاقهما الضرر بالمال العامِّ
Original addressوتابعت ان "القرارين تضمنا الحكم على المدان (عبد الناصر المنتصر بالله محمد) بالسجن لمدَّة سبع سنواتٍ، والحكم على المدان (عمر
- Middle East Monitor21 September 2017Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
Iraqi judiciary sentences two former governors to jail for corruption
Original addressThe court also sentenced the former governor of Diyala Omar al-Humeiri to six years of jail for
- Alsumaria News21 November 2017Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: السجن سبع سنوات لمحافظ ديالى السابق
Original addressواضافت الهيئة ان "المحافظ قام بصرف مبالغ ماليةٍ لإحدى الشركات عن أعمالٍ غير منجزةٍ في مشروع إنشاء خطين قابلو أرضي لمحطة الخالص733k بطول سبعة كيلو مترات"،
- Alsumaria News7 May 2018Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تصدر حكماً غيابياً بالسجن على محافظ ديالى الأسبق
Original addressاصدرت حكما غيابيٍّا بالسجن بحقِّ كلٍّ من محافظ ديالى الأسبق (عبد الناصر المُنتصر بالله محمد المهداوي) والمدير السابق
- Alsumaria News12 August 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: السجن سبع سنوات لمعاون محافظ ديالى الأسبق
Original address"إقدام المُدان باستبعاد العطاء الأقل المقدم من إحدى الشركات في مشروع تنفيذ شبكة مجاري الأمطار مع مضخات (عليبات، الكوبات
- Shafaq News1 October 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
السجن ست سنوات لمحافظ عراقي أسبق اضر بالمال العام
Original addressقيام المُدان بالموافقة على صرف مبلغٍ مقداره (500,000,000) مليون دينار عندما كان يشغل منصب محافظ ديالى؛ بزعم تلافي نفقات آليات مستخدمة في محافظتي ديالى
- Shafaq News15 February 2021Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
الحبس الشديد بحق محافظ ديالى الأسبق لإضراره بالمال العام بقرابة ملياري دينار
Original addressقام بالإحالة إلى الشركتين المذكورتين دون إعلام وزارة التخطيط، مما أدى إلى أضرار مادية تمثلت بفارق السعر بين مبلغ المقاولة المحالة ومحضر الكشف على المشروع بلغ (1,833,855,000) مليار
- Baghdad Today12 April 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: الحبس ثلاث سنوات لمحافظ ديالى الأسبق لإحداثه الضرر بالمال العام
Original address"الضرر بالمال العام الذي أحدثه المدان تحقق بتوجيهه كتاباً الى مديريَّـة بلديَّـة بعقوبة؛ من أجل تخصيص قطعة أرض شرقي ناحية شفته كساحة
- Baghdad Today23 October 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: استقدام محافظ ديالى السابق بقضية لجنة إغاثة وإيواء العوائل النازحة
Original addressجاء على ضوء المُلاحظات التي أشَّرها تقرير ديوان الرقابة الماليَّة الاتحاديّ، دائرة تدقيق نشاط الشركات، بخصوص أعمال اللجنة العليا