Cases

Integrity Commission referrals for illicit gain and abuse of office (February 2016): former deputy prime ministers Bahaa al-Araji and Saleh al-Mutlaq, and Farouk al-Araji

On 9 August 2015, as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi proposed abolishing the posts of deputy prime minister, the spokesman of the judiciary, Judge Abdul-Sattar al-Bayraqdar, said the public prosecutor had ordered an investigation into the charges against Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Bahaa al-Araji of the Sadrist movement. Members of Parliament had accused him of acquiring property in Baghdad and moving large sums abroad, Al Jazeera reported. He resigned on 10 August 2015 at Muqtada al-Sadr's request and said he had himself asked the prosecutor and the Integrity Commission to investigate. On 18 February 2016 the Integrity Commission said it had referred four former officials to the courts on charges of illicit gain and abuse of office: Bahaa al-Araji; former Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq; Farouk al-Araji, former director of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's military office; and former Baghdad mayor Naim Aboub. In April 2019 Bahaa al-Araji asked the Supreme Council for Combating Corruption to audit his time in office. No court decision on the three former officials in this file is on record.

Period: From August 2015 to April 2019
Sector: Government and public administrationGrowth of officials' wealth: illicit gain and abuse of office
Kind of case: Criminal prosecution
Jurisdiction: Federal Iraq

How the money moved

Investigation of the growth in the wealth of senior officials (illicit gain) and of abuse of office, after they left their posts.

What happened

Referred to the courts in February 2016. No court decision on Bahaa al-Araji, Saleh al-Mutlaq or Farouk al-Araji in this file is on record as of 19 October 2026. Saleh al-Mutlaq was summoned in July 2021 in a separate case on funds for displaced people (see Funds for displaced persons: the Higher Committee for Relief and Sheltering of the Displaced (from 2014 to 2023)). Naim Aboub's sentences in other cases are recorded under Baghdad Mayoralty: the Army Canal contract and the cases against former mayors Saber al-Issawi and Naim Aboub (from 2011 to 2023).

Open questions

The amounts and assets behind each referral and the courts' decisions.
Whether the investigation the public prosecutor ordered into Bahaa al-Araji in August 2015 was closed or joined to the 2016 referral.

People and companies

The table lists everyone this case names, with their legal status on the date shown. A status in this case does not carry over to any other case, and an accusation is not a conviction. How to read the status.

People and companies
Name	Role in the case	Legal status	Detail	As of
Bahaa al-Araji بهاء الأعرجي	Deputy Prime Minister for Energy until August 2015 (Sadrist movement)	Under investigation	On 9 August 2015 the spokesman of the judiciary said the public prosecutor had ordered an investigation into the charges against him; members of Parliament had accused him of acquiring property in Baghdad and moving large sums abroad (Al Jazeera). He resigned on 10 August 2015 and said he had asked for the investigation himself. On 18 February 2016 the Integrity Commission said it had referred him to the courts on charges of illicit gain and abuse of office. In April 2019 he asked the Supreme Council for Combating Corruption to audit his time in office. No court decision is on record as of 19 October 2026.	19 October 2026
Saleh al-Mutlaq صالح المطلك	Deputy Prime Minister for Services and Reconstruction in Nouri al-Maliki's second government; former head of the Higher Committee for Relief and Sheltering of the Displaced	Under investigation	On 18 February 2016 the Integrity Commission said it had referred him to the courts on charges of illicit gain and abuse of office. In a separate case, the Commission said on 5 July 2021 that the Karkh investigation court had summoned the former head of the Higher Committee for Relief and Sheltering of the Displaced, with a former deputy minister and a former director general of the Ministry of Migration, under Article 331 of the Penal Code, over the transfer of IQD 19 billion to displaced families through a private company without a decision of the committee; a source in the Commission named him to Shafaq News. No court decision is on record as of 19 October 2026.	19 October 2026
Farouk al-Araji فاروق الاعرجي	Former director of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's military office	Under investigation	On 18 February 2016 the Integrity Commission said it had referred him to the courts on charges of illicit gain and abuse of office. No court decision is on record as of 19 October 2026.	19 October 2026
Naim Aboub نعيم عبعوب	Former mayor of Baghdad	Under investigation	On 18 February 2016 the Integrity Commission said it had referred him, with three other former officials, to the courts on charges of illicit gain and abuse of office. No court decision in this file is on record as of 19 October 2026; his sentences in other cases are recorded under Baghdad Mayoralty: the Army Canal contract and the cases against former mayors Saber al-Issawi and Naim Aboub (from 2011 to 2023).	19 October 2026

Sources

These are the documents on which this case rests. Each quote is given in the language of the document.

Alsumaria News (spokesman of the judiciary)9 August 2015Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
الأعرجي: تقدمت بطلب إلى الإدعاء والنزاهة للتحقيق بالتهم والإدعاءات المُسيئة
وكان المتحدث باسم السلطة القضائية القاضي عبد الستار البيرقدار أعلن، اليوم الاحد، ان الادعاء العام اوعز بالتحقيق في التهم المنسوبة الى نائب رئيس الوزراء بهاء الاعرجي
Original address
Alsumaria News18 February 2016Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تحيل بهاء الاعرجي وصالح المطلك وفاروق الاعرجي ونعيم عبعوب للقضاء
اعلنت هيئة النزاهة ، الخميس، عن احالة كلا من بهاء الاعرجي وصالح المطلك وفاروق الاعرجي ونعيم عبعوب الى القضاء، بتهم الكسب غير
Original address
Middle East Monitor (Integrity Commission statement)19 February 2016Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
Iraq's Integrity Commission refers four senior officials to court over corruption charges
The statement explained that Bahaa al-Araji, Saleh al-Mutlaq, Farouk al-Araji and Naim Abo’ab are accused of graft and exploiting their positions to illegally amass wealth.
Original address
Shafaq News (Integrity Commission statement)5 July 2021Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تعلن استقدام نائب رئيس الوزراء السابق صالح المطلك
كشف مصدر في الهيئة، لوكالة شفق نيوز، أن امر الاستقدام صدر بحق صالح المطلك الذي كان يشغل منصب نائب رئيس الوزراء لشؤون الإعمار والخدمات في حكومة نوري المالكي الثانية.
Original address
Al Jazeera Net10 August 2015Press reportTier D
نائب رئيس وزراء العراق يستقيل بسبب تهم بالفساد
ويتهم أعضاء في البرلمان العراقي الأعرجي بـ"الاستحواذ على عقارات في العاصمة بغداد ، وتحويل مبالغ مالية كبيرة للاستثمار في الخارج وشراء عقارات في دول أوروبية".
Original address
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty11 August 2015Press reportTier D
Iraqi Minister Resigns Amid Anti-Corruption Sweep
Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, said the public prosecutor had ordered a corruption investigation into Araji.
Original address
Alsumaria News5 March 2016Press reportTier D
مكتب الصدر يعلن "احتجاز" بهاء الأعرجي في لجنة محاربة الفساد لمدة ثلاثة أشهر
يذكر أن هيئة النزاهة أعلنت، الخميس (18 شباط 2016)، عن إحالة كلا من بهاء الاعرجي وصالح المطلك وفاروق الاعرجي ونعيم عبعوب إلى القضاء، بتهم "الكسب غير المشروع" و"الاستغلال الوظيفي".
Original address
Alsumaria News3 April 2019Press reportTier D
بهاء الأعرجي يطالب مجلس مكافحة الفساد بتدقيق فترة تسنّمه للمنصب الحكوميّ
طالب نائب رئيس الوزراء السابق بهاء الأعرجي ، الاربعاء، المجلس الأعلى لمكافحة الفساد باجراء التدقيق والتحقُّق لفترة تسنّمه للمنصب الحكوميّ
Original address