Luay al-Khateeb: suspended sentence over an $808m Baghdad power-station contract (2022)
Luay al-Khateeb, Iraq's electricity minister from October 2018 to May 2020, was placed under an Integrity Commission travel ban in 2020 pending investigation into the ministry's hiring of 82,555 daily-wage workers, and his Baghdad home was raided. On 21 and 22 April 2022 a Baghdad court convicted him and three unnamed former ministry officials in person and gave al-Khateeb a one-year suspended sentence and a 1m-dinar fine, after he and the others were accused of awarding an $808,345,462 contract for the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of a Central Region thermal power station to an Arab company the Integrity Commission said was commercial and not specialised in that work, citing 'deliberate irregularities' in the award. Al-Khateeb said the sentence reflected employee negligence rather than corruption, that the contract was never implemented, and that he intended to appeal.
- Period
- From October 2018 to April 2022
- Sector
- Electricity and energy infrastructurePower-station rehabilitation contracts
- Kind of case
- Criminal prosecution
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved
Alleged award of a major power-station rehabilitation and management contract to an unqualified company without proper vetting; the Integrity Commission cited deliberate irregularities in the award process and in correspondence to the ministerial energy committee.
What happened
Convicted with a one-year suspended sentence and fine, from 21 to 22 April 2022; al-Khateeb disputes the corruption characterisation and says the contract was never implemented; appeal outcome is not on record.
Open questions
- Identity of the three co-accused and of the awarded company; final appellate outcome.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luay al-Khateeb (Luay Al-Khatteeb) | Electricity minister, from October 2018 to May 2020 | Convicted (reported) | Placed under an Integrity Commission travel ban in 2020 pending investigation into the hiring of 82,555 daily-wage workers; on 22 April 2022 (verdict dated 21 April 2022 according to Alsumaria) a Baghdad court gave him a one-year suspended sentence and a 1m-dinar fine, alongside three co-accused former ministry officials, over award of an $808m power-station rehabilitation and management contract to a company the Integrity Commission said was 'not specialised' in that work. Al-Khateeb said the sentence reflected employee negligence rather than corruption, that the contract was never implemented, and that he would appeal. | 28 September 2026 |
| Three former Ministry of Electricity officials (unnamed) | Co-accused alongside al-Khateeb | Convicted (reported) | Convicted in person alongside al-Khateeb, 21 April 2022, on the same contract-award irregularities; names not given. | 28 September 2026 |
Sources
- Alsumaria TV21 April 2022Press reportTier D
النزاهة: الحكم حضوريا على وزير الكهرباء الأسبق وثلاثة مسؤولين في الوزارة (Integrity: in-person verdict against the former electricity minister and three ministry officials)
Originalارتكبوا أثناء عملهم في الوزارة مُخالفاتٍ في العقد (they committed violations in the contract during their work at the ministry); contract value $808,345,462
- The National22 April 2022Press reportTier D
Iraq's former electricity minister handed suspended prison sentence
Originaldeliberate irregularities in awarding the contract to a company not specialised in the maintenance and rehabilitation of power stations