Iraqi Consultants & Construction Bureau: bribes to a US Army Corps of Engineers employee for reconstruction contracts in northern Iraq (2007 to 2009) and US charges against its former owner Shwan Al-Mulla (2021)
On 27 January 2021 the US Attorney for the District of New Jersey unsealed an indictment charging Shwan Al-Mulla, a British national born in Iraq and former owner of the Baghdad-based Iraqi Consultants & Construction Bureau (ICCB), with seven counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. According to the indictment, between 2007 and 2009 Al-Mulla and his co-conspirators, including ICCB employee Ahmed Nouri, paid more than USD 1 million to John Alfy Salama Markus, a US Army Corps of Engineers employee at Contingency Operating Base Speicher in Tikrit, in exchange for confidential bid information and the award of reconstruction contracts. In one example, Salama Markus asked for USD 350,000 to help ICCB win a USD 6.2 million contract for work at the Bayji oil refinery, which ICCB received in May 2007. Salama Markus was sentenced to 156 months in prison in March 2013, and Ahmed Nouri pleaded guilty in October 2018. ICCB paid USD 2.7 million in 2013 to resolve Justice Department allegations under the False Claims Act. Al-Mulla remained at large.
- Period
- From 2007 to January 2021
- Sector
- Reconstruction and donor fundsUS Army Corps of Engineers reconstruction contracts; bribery
- Kind of case
- Criminal prosecution
- Jurisdiction
- United States
How the money moved
Bribes paid to a contracting official in exchange for confidential bid information, help in winning contracts and favourable contract administration.
What happened
Salama Markus was sentenced to 156 months in March 2013; Ahmed Nouri pleaded guilty in October 2018; ICCB paid USD 2.7 million to settle in 2013; Al-Mulla was charged in 2021 and was at large. No later development is on record as of 19 October 2026.
Open questions
- Whether Al-Mulla has been arrested or tried.
- Ahmed Nouri's sentence.
- Which Iraqi projects the contracts covered and whether they were completed.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Alfy Salama Markus جون ألفي سلامة ماركوس | US Army Corps of Engineers employee at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Tikrit | Convicted | Pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud, money laundering and tax offences and was sentenced on 12 March 2013 to 156 months in prison, according to the US Attorney for the District of New Jersey. The 2021 indictment says he received more than USD 1 million in bribes from ICCB between 2007 and 2009. | 19 October 2026 |
| Ahmed Nouri أحمد نوري | Employee of Iraqi Consultants & Construction Bureau (ICCB) | Pleaded guilty | Pleaded guilty on 1 October 2018 to conspiracy to commit bribery and was awaiting sentence in January 2021, according to the US Attorney for the District of New Jersey. | 19 October 2026 |
| Shwan Al-Mulla شوان الملا | Founder and former owner of Iraqi Consultants & Construction Bureau (ICCB) | Charged or wanted | Charged in an indictment unsealed on 27 January 2021 in the US District of New Jersey with seven counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and defraud the US government, over more than USD 1 million in bribes paid to a US Army Corps of Engineers employee between 2007 and 2009. The US Attorney said he remained at large. He is presumed innocent. No later development is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
| Iraqi Consultants & Construction Bureau (ICCB) المكتب العراقي للاستشارات والإنشاءات | Baghdad-based company founded by Shwan Al-Mulla in 2003; held US Army Corps of Engineers reconstruction contracts | Accused by an official body | Paid USD 2.7 million in 2013 to resolve Justice Department allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying bribes to Salama Markus (Middle East Eye). According to the 2021 indictment, it received a USD 6.2 million Bayji refinery contract in May 2007 and four further contracts worth about USD 7 million in July 2007 in exchange for bribes. | 19 October 2026 |
Sources
- US Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey27 January 2021Prosecutor press releaseTier A
United Kingdom National Charged with Bribery and Kickback Scheme Involving Iraqi Reconstruction Contracts
Document (saved page)Original addressInternet Archive copySHA-256 7293b7d76461The indictment unsealed today charges Shwan Al-Mulla, 60, the former owner of Iraqi Consultants & Construction Bureau (ICCB), with seven counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and defraud the U.S. government.
- Middle East Eye28 January 2021Press reportTier D
US charges British national with bribery scheme to obtain Iraq contracts
Original addressICCB paid $2.7m in 2013 to resolve Justice Department allegations that it violated the federal False Claims Act by paying bribes to Salama Markus.