Najaf grain silos: unfit rice, 752 tonnes of missing wheat and forged grain certificates (from 2018 to 2025)
On 18 October 2018 the Integrity Commission said its Najaf office and the ministry's inspector general had found 1,376 tonnes of local rice unfit for human consumption at the Manathera silo, with high levels of yeast and broken grain and live insects. The State Company for Grain Trading replied that the rice came from Iraqi farmers and that a ministry committee had stopped it and referred the file to an administrative investigation. On 19 May 2020 the Commission said an audit of the Najaf horizontal silo for May 2019 to April 2020 had found 752.5 tonnes of wheat missing, worth IQD 421.12 million; Rudaw reported that the site manager had blamed birds. Four silo officials were summoned in June 2020, and in July 2020 a Najaf integrity judge ordered the storekeepers detained. In June 2021 the Commission caught a sample drawer at the same silo swapping poor wheat samples for first grade ones. In July 2025 it said Salah Mahdi Dahla, a former examiner at the Abu Sakhir silo sentenced in absentia by the Najaf Criminal Court to two terms of seven years for forging certificates for wheat and rice moved from the Manathera silo, had been returned from Tunisia.
- Period
- From October 2018 to July 2025
- Sector
- Trade and food securityGrain storage and quality control (Grain Trading company silos in Najaf)
- Kind of case
- Criminal prosecution
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved
Acceptance of unfit grain, unexplained shortages in stored wheat, swapping of test samples and forged laboratory certificates in silos that receive farmers' crops and supply mills.
What happened
Detention orders for the storekeepers (July 2020); a sample drawer detained (June 2021); two in absentia sentences of seven years for the former examiner Salah Mahdi Dahla, returned from Tunisia (announced 24 July 2025); the 2018 rice held for an administrative investigation.
Open questions
- Outcome of the case of the 752 tonnes.
- Whether Salah Mahdi Dahla was retried after his return.
- Result of the administrative investigation into the 2018 rice.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salah Mahdi Dahla صلاح مهدي دهلة | Former laboratory examiner, Abu Sakhir silo, Ministry of Trade | Arrested | Sentenced in absentia by the Najaf Criminal Court for integrity cases in two cases to seven years each under Article 340, for falsifying the laboratory analysis certificate for hundreds of tonnes of wheat and rice moved from the Manathera silo to the Babil branch of the State Company for Grain Processing and signing in place of a second examiner. After two Interpol red notices he was found in Tunisia and returned to Iraq, the Integrity Commission said on 24 July 2025. No retrial outcome is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
| Storekeepers of the Najaf horizontal silo (unnamed) أمناء مخازن سايلو النجف الأفقي (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم) | Storekeepers, Najaf horizontal silo, State Company for Grain Trading | Arrested | After the Integrity Commission found 752.5 tonnes of wheat worth IQD 421.12 million missing for May 2019 to April 2020, four silo officials were summoned in June 2020, and on 26 July 2020 the Commission announced detention orders from the Najaf integrity investigation judge against the silo's storekeepers under Article 341 of the Penal Code. Rudaw reported that the site manager had blamed birds for the loss. No court outcome is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
| Sample drawer at the Najaf horizontal silo (unnamed) ساحب النماذج في سايلو النجف الأفقي (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Employee drawing wheat samples, Najaf horizontal silo | Arrested | Caught in the act on 6 June 2021 swapping the poor quality samples drawn from sellers' trucks for first grade samples he had hidden nearby; the investigating judge ordered him detained (Integrity Commission). | 19 October 2026 |
Sources
- Alsumaria News18 October 2018Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تضبط كميات كبيرة من الرز غير الصالح للاستهلاك في أحد سايلوات وزارة التجارة
Original addressضبط 1376 طناً من مادة الرز المحليّ في سايلو المناذرةغير صالحة للاستهلاك البشري
- Alsumaria News18 October 2018Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
التجارة ترد على بيان النزاهة بشأن الرز غير صالح للاستهلاك في النجف
Original addressاحالة الملف الى التحقيق الاداري وعزل الاكياس المخالفة للمواصفات التطبيقية والمخزنية
- Alsumaria News19 May 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تكشف نقص 752 طن حنطة بسايلو النجف
Original addressوجود نقصٍ في مادة الحنطة بلغ (752 طناً و498 كغم)، وأن قيمته الكلية وصلت إلى (421,120,000) مليون دينار
- Alsumaria News26 July 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: صدور أوامر توقيف بحق أمناء مخازن في سايلو النجف
Original addressإصدار قاضي التحقيق المُختصِّ بقضايا النزاهة في المُحافظة أوامر توقيفٍ بحقِّ أمناء مخازن سايلو النجف الأفقيِّ
- Alsumaria News6 June 2021Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: ايقاف عمليَّة تلاعب بنماذج فحص الحنطة المسحوبة في سايلو النجف الأفقي
Original addressتمكن من ضبط موظفٍ في سايلو المحافظة (ساحب النماذج)، متلبساً بالتلاعب بنماذج الفحص الخاصة بمحصول الحنطة المسحوبة
- 964 Network24 July 2025Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
العراق يسترد مداناً من تونس بتهم تزوير شهادات تحليل للحنطة والرز
Original addressالمُدان الهارب (صلاح مهدي دهلة) المُوظَّف السابق في وزارة التجارة
- 964 Network (English)24 July 2025Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
Iraq extradites fugitive grain examiner sentenced for certificate forgery
Original addressThe Najaf Criminal Court, which handles integrity-related cases, found Dahla guilty of forging laboratory certificates for hundreds of tons of wheat and rice
- Rudaw22 May 2020Press reportTier D
Iraqi graft investigators doubt 752 tons of missing wheat was 'eaten by birds'
Original addressWhen 752 tons of wheat went missing from a state grain silo in Najaf this year, the site manager claimed it had been pilfered by flocks of hungry birds.