Grain Trading and Grain Processing companies: directors general sentenced or summoned, and brokers seeking USD 69 million for a flour contract (from 2019 to 2023)
Integrity Commission statements report cases against heads of the ministry's two grain companies. In July 2019 the Karkh Criminal Court sentenced a former director general of the State Company for Grain Trading to seven years in absentia for letting a private company use company trucks to move wheat without a contract or guarantees, causing USD 856,846 in damage. In May 2023 the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court sentenced a director general of the same company to six years in absentia for illicit enrichment and ordered him to repay IQD 317.6 million and USD 343,000 and pay an equal fine. In September 2020 the Karkh Criminal Court sentenced a former director general of the State Company for Grain Processing to ten years in person after he was caught taking a bribe from a mill owner in return for not closing his mill. In March 2022 a Karkh court summoned a former minister of trade and two former directors general of Grain Processing over approvals for 44 mills lacking legal basis or economic feasibility. In October 2023 the Commission caught two brokers taking USD 20,000 of USD 69 million they demanded to steer a USD 462 million contract for 400,000 tonnes of flour.
- Period
- From July 2019 to October 2023
- Sector
- Trade and food securityGrain trading and flour milling (State Companies for Grain Trading and Grain Processing)
- Kind of case
- Criminal prosecution
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved
Use of state company assets for private firms, unexplained wealth of senior managers, bribes for leaving mills open, licences for mills without justification, and brokers selling access to supply contracts.
What happened
Three sentences against directors general (2019 and 2023 in absentia, 2020 in person); summonses of a former minister and three directors general (2022, 2023); two brokers caught in the act (2023); later outcomes not found as of 19 October 2026.
Open questions
- Names of the directors general and of the former minister.
- Which company the flour contract belonged to and whether any official was involved.
- Whether the 44 mills received ration wheat allocations.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Former director general of the State Company for Grain Trading sentenced in July 2019 (not named) مدير عام سابق للشركة العامة لتجارة الحبوب حُكم في تموز 2019 (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Former director general, State Company for Grain Trading | Convicted (reported) | Sentenced in absentia to seven years under Article 340 by the Karkh Criminal Court (third panel), with an arrest warrant and seizure of his property, for approving the use of the company's trucks to move wheat for a private company without a prior contract or guarantees, causing damage of USD 856,846 (Integrity Commission, 4 July 2019). | 19 October 2026 |
| Director general of the State Company for Grain Trading sentenced in May 2023 for illicit enrichment (not named) المدير العام للشركة العامة لتجارة الحبوب المحكوم في أيار 2023 بتضخم الأموال (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Director general, State Company for Grain Trading | Convicted (reported) | Sentenced in absentia to six years by the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court under Article 19 (second) of the Integrity and Illicit Gain Law No. 30 of 2011, and ordered to repay IQD 317,621,200 and USD 343,000 of illicit gain and to pay a fine of the same value, more than IQD 1.5 billion in all (Integrity Commission, 28 May 2023). | 19 October 2026 |
| Former director general of the State Company for Grain Processing sentenced in September 2020 (not named) مدير عام سابق للشركة العامة لتصنيع الحبوب حُكم في أيلول 2020 (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Former director general, State Company for Grain Processing | Convicted (reported) | Sentenced in person by the Karkh Criminal Court to ten years and a fine of IQD 5 million under Revolutionary Command Council Decision 160 of 1983, after being caught in the act receiving a bribe from a mill owner in return for not closing his mill (Integrity Commission, 29 September 2020). | 19 October 2026 |
| Two brokers caught over a flour supply contract (not named) معقبان ضُبطا بشأن عقد لتجهيز الطحين (لم يُذكر اسماهما) | Brokers offering to steer a Ministry of Trade flour contract | Arrested | Caught on 31 October 2023 receiving USD 20,000 as part of USD 69 million they had demanded from a complainant to steer to him a contract of a Ministry of Trade company for 400,000 tonnes of flour worth USD 462 million; the Commission seized an identity card allegedly issued by an MP's office naming one of them as an adviser and said one used a false name. They were brought before the investigating judge (Integrity Commission). | 19 October 2026 |
| Former Minister of Trade and two former directors general of the State Company for Grain Processing summoned in March 2022 (not named) وزير تجارة أسبق ومديران عامان سابقان للشركة العامة لتصنيع الحبوب استُقدموا في آذار 2022 (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم) | Former Minister of Trade; former directors general, State Company for Grain Processing | Under investigation | The Karkh second investigation court summoned them under Article 331 of the Penal Code over approvals by the minister and the company for 44 mills granted without legal grounds or economic feasibility (Integrity Commission, 29 March 2022). The statement does not name the former minister. No outcome is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
| Director general of the State Company for Grain Processing summoned in March 2023 (not named) المدير العام للشركة العامة لتصنيع الحبوب المستقدم في آذار 2023 (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Director general, State Company for Grain Processing | Under investigation | A Baquba integrity investigation judge summoned him under Article 310 of the Penal Code for paying a bribe to an officer at a police station to have an encroachment on a property removed (Integrity Commission, 6 March 2023). No outcome is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
Sources
- Alsumaria News4 July 2019Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: سجن مديرٍ عامٍّ سابقٍ بوزارة التجارة أهدر قرابة مليون دولار
Original addressالمدان وافق على استخدام سيَّارات الشركة العامَّة لتجارة الحبوب؛ لنقل مادَّة الحنطة لمصلحة إحدى الشركات الأهليَّة دون وجود عقدٍ مُسبقٍ أو ضماناتٍ
- Alsumaria News29 September 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: السجن عشر سنوات لمدير عام سابق بعد ضبطه متلبساً بالرشوة
Original addressضبط المدان متلبساً بتسلم مبلغ رشوةٍ من أحد أصحاب المطاحن مقابل عدم إغلاق مطحنته
- Alsumaria News29 March 2022Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تستقدم وزير التجارة الأسبق ومديرين سابقين
Original addressإقدام الوزير والشركة العامَّة لتصنيع الحبوب على منح موافقات لإنشاء (44) مطحنة
- Shafaq News6 March 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
بجريمة الرشوة.. استقدام مدير عام في وزارة التجارة
Original addressقام بدفع الرشوة إلى ضابط في أحد مراكز الشرطة في المدينة؛ بغية قيامه برفع التجاوز عن أحد العقارات
- Shafaq News28 May 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
السجن 6 سنوات لمدير عام في وزارة التجارة العراقية أُدين بجريمة تضخم الأموال
Original addressحكماً غيابياً يقضي بسجن المُدير العام للشركة العامَّة لتجارة الحبوب في وزارة التجارة لمُدَّة ست سنواتٍ؛ إثر إدانته بجريمة تضخُّم الأموال والكسب غير المشروع
- 964 Network28 May 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: السجن 6 سنوات بحق مسؤول في وزارة التجارة تضخمت أمواله
Original addressمجموع المبالغ الملزم بتسديدها المدان بلغت أكثر من (1،5) مليار دينار
- Baghdad Today31 October 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تضبط متهمين طلبا (70) مليون دولار لقاء إحالة عقد لتجهيز الطحين
Original addressمقابل إحالة عقد تجهيز مادة الطحين بكميَّة 400 ألف طنٍّ إلى وزارة التجارة بقيمة (462) مليون دولار
Related cases
- Trade Minister Mullas al-Kasnazani: arrest warrants (2015) and an in absentia sentence over two basmati rice contracts of the Grain Trading company (2018)
- Ministry of Trade money in a private bank: IQD 129 billion deposited by the Export Support Fund and the Grain Trading company, and a 2026 sentence (from 2023 to 2026)