Nasiriyah Municipality: IQD 98.6 billion of alleged manipulation of land records, forged title deeds and successive arrests of staff (from 2021 to 2025)
On 20 April 2025 the Integrity Commission said six employees of the Nasiriyah Municipality Directorate and of the first and second land registration offices in Dhi Qar had been arrested under Article 340. It said they had altered the technical records of prime and commercial plots from 2020 to 2024 and allocated them without public auction or market prices, with manipulation and loss put at IQD 98,610,000,000. In July 2025 the Commission said it had broken up a network of 16 directorate employees who handled hundreds of residential plot transactions against the rules; 15 were arrested. Earlier findings included IQD 6.74 billion of trust money not recorded as revenue and 92 forged title deeds (November 2023), irregular lotteries for residential plots (March 2024), and 1,299 plots handed out under fictitious numbers (July 2024). In 2022 the governor of Dhi Qar referred the directorate's files to the integrity court, saying it owed about IQD 50 billion. A court in Dhi Qar sentenced eight officials, including two former municipal directors, to between four months and one year in August 2024, according to a security source.
- Period
- From 2016 to November 2025
- Sector
- Local government and reconstructionMunicipal land allocation and property records (Nasiriyah, Dhi Qar)
- Kind of case
- Criminal prosecution
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved
Technical records of commercial plots altered and land allocated without auction, forged title deeds and allocation minutes, fictitious plot numbers, and trust money kept off the revenue accounts, according to the Integrity Commission.
What happened
Six employees arrested (April 2025); 15 of 16 employees arrested (July 2025); eight officials sentenced to four months to one year (August 2024, security source); the former director of a district municipality, six years for bribery (November 2025). Earlier: a raid in May 2021 in which one architect was held and nine employees fled. No verdict in the IQD 98.6 billion case was found as of 19 October 2026.
Open questions
- Names of the arrested employees, of the municipal directors sentenced in 2024 and of the beneficiaries of the plots.
- Whether any plots were returned to the state.
- Result of the arrest warrants reported against two former directors of the Nasiriyah municipality in 2021 and 2022.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eight Dhi Qar governorate officials, including two former municipal directors (unnamed) ثمانية مسؤولين في محافظة ذي قار بينهم مديرا بلدية سابقان (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم) | Former municipal directors and staff of the Dhi Qar governorate | Convicted (reported) | A Dhi Qar integrity misdemeanour court sentenced eight officials, two of them former municipal directors (one retired) and six serving in the governorate's administration, to between four months and one year under Article 331 for misuse of public funds, according to a security source quoted by Shafaq News on 21 August 2024. Not named. | 19 October 2026 |
| Former director of the al-Rifai municipality, Dhi Qar (unnamed) مدير بلدية الرفاعي السابق في ذي قار (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Director of a district municipality in Dhi Qar (former) | Convicted (reported) | The Dhi Qar criminal court sentenced a former director of a district municipality in Dhi Qar in person to six years and a fine for bribery (Integrity Commission statement relayed by Alsumaria, 17 November 2025); Shafaq News identified the municipality as al-Rifai. Not named. | 19 October 2026 |
| Six employees of the Nasiriyah Municipality Directorate and the first and second land registration offices in Dhi Qar (unnamed) ستة موظفين في مديرية بلدية الناصرية ودائرتي التسجيل العقاري الأولى والثانية في ذي قار (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم) | Employees of the Nasiriyah Municipality Directorate and the land registration offices | Arrested | Arrested under Article 340 and brought before the Dhi Qar integrity investigation judge; the Integrity Commission said they had altered the technical records of prime and commercial plots in 2020 to 2024 and allocated them without auction or real prices, with manipulation and loss of IQD 98,610,000,000 (statement of 20 April 2025). Not named. | 19 October 2026 |
| Fifteen employees of the Nasiriyah Municipality Directorate (unnamed; a sixteenth at large) خمسة عشر موظفاً في مديرية بلدية الناصرية (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم؛ والسادس عشر هارب) | Employees of the Nasiriyah Municipality Directorate | Arrested | The Integrity Commission said on 30 July 2025 that it had broken up a network of 16 directorate employees who held hundreds of residential plot transactions handled against the rules, used blank receipts and forged documents, and pressed applicants to buy their receipts; 15 were arrested and one remained at large. Not named. | 19 October 2026 |
Sources
- Shafaq News10 March 2022Government statementTier B
مدانة بـ50 مليار دينار.. احالة ملفات بلدية الناصرية إلى النزاهة
Original addressالاخفاقات والمخالفات الحاصلة في مديرية بلدية الناصرية والتي اثرت على ادائها على مدى السنوات السابقة، جعلها من الدوائر المدانة بنحو 50 مليار دينار وتاخرت
- 96417 November 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: تلاعب وتزوير بقيمة 7 مليارات دينار في بلدية الناصرية
Original addressعدم تقييد مُديريَّة بلديَّة الناصريَّة مبالغ الأمانات للأعوام (2016، 2019) البالغة ... تمَّ ضبط (92) كتاب تمليكٍ مُزوَّراً و (15) معاملة تمليكٍ
- 96425 March 2024Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة ترصد تزويراً بمحضر تخصيص الأراضي السكنية في بلدية الناصرية
Original addressضبط تلاعبٍ وتزويرٍ بمحضر تخصيص قطع الأراضي المُوزَّعة بين الشرائح المشمولة بالتوزيع في مُديريَّة بلديَّة الناصريَّة من خلال عدم إجراء
- Baghdad Today8 July 2024Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة توقف هدر قرابة 3.5 مليارات دينار في بلدية الناصرية
Original addressوتوزيع (1299) قطعة أرضٍ غير مُفرزةٍ بأرقامٍ وهميَّةٍ، ولا توجد تسلسلات وأضابير
- 964 (English)20 April 2025Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
Six municipal employees arrested in Dhi Qar over $68 million land fraud
Original addressannounced Sunday the arrest of six employees from the Nasiriyah Municipality Directorate and the first and second land registration offices in Dhi Qar governorate on charges of manipulating property records and causing nearly 100 billion
- Shafaq News20 April 2025Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
تأكيداً لشفق نيوز.. النزاهة تعلن تفاصيل اقتحام بلدية ذي قار
Original addressضبط الأوليات الخاصة بوجود تلاعب وهدر بقيمة (98,610,000,000) دينار، لافتة إلى أن المتهمين أقدموا على التلاعب في الكشوفات الفنية لقطع الأراضي المتميزة
- Shafaq News30 July 2025Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
تفكيك شبكة فساد من 16 موظفاً في بلدية الناصرية
Original addressتفكيك شبكة فساد مكونة من 16 موظفاً في مديرية بلدية الناصرية، متهمين بالقيام بأعمال التلاعب والتزوير وإلحاق ضرر بأموال ومصالح البلدية. وأوضح
- Alsumaria News17 November 2025Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهـة: السجـن 6 سنوات لمدير بلدية سابق في ذي قار بسبب الرشوة
Original addressأصدرت قرار حكمٍ حضورياً يقضي بسجن مُدير بلديَّةٍ في محافظة ذي قار لمدَّة ست سنواتٍ، وفرض
- Shafaq News (English)11 May 2021Press reportTier D
Nine public servants wanted for corruption charges fled during a raid to Nasiriyah Municipality
Original addressthe operation ended up detaining only one architect while the remaining nine fled to
- Shafaq News (English)21 August 2024Press reportTier D
Iraq's Dhi Qar Court sentences municipal officials for corruption in landmark case
Original addressthe court issued prison sentences for eight government officials. Among them were two individuals who served as municipal directors in
- Shafaq News6 November 2025Press reportTier D
السجن 6 سنوات لمدير بلدية الرفاعي بتهمة الرشوة
Original addressأصدرت محكمة جنايات ذي قار، يوم الخميس، حكما بالسجن 6 سنوات بحق مدير بلدية