Ration rice and other goods spoiled, missing or taken from Ministry of Trade stores, and losses in transport and payments (from 2017 to 2026)
Integrity Commission statements describe repeated losses of ration goods. In February 2021 it detained six people, including the assistant director of the Maysan silo, after 150 tonnes of rice there were found unfit. In December 2022 MP Hadi al-Salami of Parliament's integrity committee complained to the Public Prosecution against the Minister of Trade, Atheer Dawood al-Ghurairy, and anyone found negligent, after rice flooded in the tea factory stores at al-Hurriya in Baghdad; in January 2023 the Commission seized 261.3 tonnes of rain damaged rice there. It also seized 286 tonnes of rice expired since 2015 in Muthanna (January 2023) and arrested five officials of the Dhi Qar branch of the State Company for Foodstuff Trading over 25,677 bags of mouldy rice (November 2023). In Kirkuk (August 2023) it held a storekeeper and others over ration rice sold in markets, and in Maysan (May 2026) two storekeepers over a rice shortage. Courts also sentenced in absentia a former marketing head over lentils left to spoil and 19 truckloads lost to a transport firm, and an employee who paid USD 552,150 to the wrong company.
- Period
- From 2017 to May 2026
- Sector
- Trade and food securityStorage and distribution of ration goods (Foodstuff Trading and Grain Trading stores)
- Kind of case
- Criminal prosecution
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved
Poor storage, failure to market or destroy goods in time, theft from stores with the help of storekeepers and transport contractors, and payments made without right.
What happened
Arrests and detentions in Maysan (2021, 2026), Dhi Qar and Kirkuk (2023); goods seized in Baghdad and Muthanna (2023); in absentia sentences of seven years for a former employee (2018) and a contractor's manager (2017), and two in absentia sentences for a former marketing head, arrested in March 2023; no charge against the minister is on record as of 19 October 2026.
Open questions
- Outcome of the cases of the Dhi Qar officials and the Maysan silo suspects.
- Who was found responsible for the al-Hurriya flooding.
- Name of the transport company that took the 19 truckloads and whether the money was recovered.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Former Ministry of Trade employee who ordered a double payment (unnamed) موظف سابق في وزارة التجارة وجّه بصرف مبلغ مرتين (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Former employee, State Company for Foodstuff Trading | Convicted (reported) | Sentenced in absentia to seven years under Article 340 by the criminal court for integrity cases in Baghdad for signing a letter from the State Company for Foodstuff Trading to the Trade Bank of Iraq to pay USD 552,150 to the former authorised manager of a contracting company although the money belonged to another company, so that the sum was paid twice (Integrity Commission, 15 October 2018). | 19 October 2026 |
| Former authorised manager of a contracting company paid twice (unnamed) المدير المفوض السابق لشركة مقاولات صُرف له المبلغ مرتين (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Former authorised manager of a contracting company | Convicted (reported) | The Integrity Commission said on 15 October 2018 that the criminal court for integrity cases in Baghdad had sentenced him in absentia to seven years (announced 12 November 2017) for taking the USD 552,150 paid to him in error by the State Company for Foodstuff Trading. | 19 October 2026 |
| Six suspects at the Maysan silo including its assistant director (unnamed) ستة متهمين في سايلو ميسان بينهم معاون مدير السايلو (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم) | Staff of the Maysan silo, State Company for Grain Trading | Arrested | Detained under Article 340 after the Integrity Commission found 150 tonnes of rice unfit for human consumption, according to tests by the Maysan health directorate laboratories, in the Maysan stores of the State Company for Grain Trading; the judge also placed the stores under judicial guard (Commission statement of 17 February 2021). | 19 October 2026 |
| Five officials of the Dhi Qar branch of the State Company for Foodstuff Trading (unnamed) خمسة مسؤولين في فرع الشركة العامة لتجارة المواد الغذائية في ذي قار (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم) | Branch director, director of commercial control, quality control official, control committee member and storekeeper, Dhi Qar branch | Arrested | Arrested on 12 November 2023 on warrants under Article 340 after the Integrity Commission found 25,677 bags of US origin rice, mouldy and holding large insects, in the branch stores; they were brought before the Dhi Qar integrity investigation judge. | 19 October 2026 |
| Kirkuk branch storekeeper and others held in the ration rice case (unnamed) أمين مخزن فرع كركوك وآخرون موقوفون في قضية رز البطاقة التموينية (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم) | Storekeeper of the State Company for Foodstuff Trading in Kirkuk, a ration transport contractor's driver and a food office owner | Arrested | The Integrity Commission said on 11 August 2023 that ration rice marked as not for sale had been taken from the company's Kirkuk stores and sold in markets. A food office owner said he bought it through a middleman with the help of a ministry employee, and a driver for the ration transport contractor said he took it out on the storekeeper's instructions; the storekeeper was arrested on a court order and the judge detained the suspects under Article 444/11 of the Penal Code (theft). | 19 October 2026 |
| Two storekeepers of the Maysan stores held in May 2026 (unnamed) أمينا مخزن في ميسان ضُبطا في أيار 2026 (لم يُذكر اسماهما) | Storekeepers, State Company for Foodstuff Trading, Maysan | Arrested | Held on 6 May 2026 after the Integrity Commission found a shortage of rice in a store of the State Company for Foodstuff Trading in Maysan, which it attributed to neglect by those running the store; the Maysan integrity investigation judge continued proceedings under Article 340. | 19 October 2026 |
| Former head of the marketing section of the State Company for Foodstuff Trading (unnamed) مدير قسم التسويق السابق في الشركة العامة لتجارة المواد الغذائية (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Former head of the marketing section and head of the vehicle hire committee, State Company for Foodstuff Trading | Arrested | Sentenced in absentia in 2017 by the Baghdad Rusafa federal appeals court to two years' severe imprisonment under Article 341, and ordered by the Rusafa court of first instance to pay IQD 1,531,396,500 to the company, as head of the vehicle hire committee whose contract with a transport company to carry ration goods from Basra ports ended with the loads of 19 trucks taken by that company. In 2021 the Karkh Criminal Court sentenced him in absentia to seven years under Article 340 for IQD 80.1 million of damage from 35.6 tonnes of lentils not marketed in time. The Integrity Commission arrested him on his return from abroad (announced 29 March 2023). | 19 October 2026 |
| Atheer Dawood al-Ghurairy أثير داود الغريري | Minister of Trade (in office from 2022 to at least March 2026) | Accused by an official body | On 28 December 2022 MP Hadi al-Salami of Parliament's integrity committee filed a complaint with the Public Prosecution against the Minister of Trade and anyone found negligent after part of the strategic rice stock flooded in the stores of the tea blending and packing factory at al-Hurriya, Baghdad. On 11 January 2023 the Integrity Commission seized 261.3 tonnes of rain damaged rice there and said the case was under investigation to identify those responsible. No charge against the minister is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
Sources
- Alsumaria News15 October 2018Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: الحكم بسجن موظف سابق في وزارة التجارة أضرَّ بأكثر من نصف مليون دولار
Original addressصرف مبلغ (552,150) ألف دولارٍ أمريكيٍّ لحساب المدير المُفوَّض السابق لإحدى شركات المقاولات دون وجه حقٍّ
- Al-Aalem Al-Jadeed17 February 2021Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تعثر على أرز غير صالح للاستهلاك في سايلو ميسـان وتضبط متهمين
Original addressضبط (6) مُتَّهمين، من بينهم معاون مدير سايلو ميسان؛ على خلفيَّة العثور على (150) طناً من مادة الأرز غير صالحةٍ للاستهلاك البشريّ
- Shafaq News28 December 2022Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
شكوى نيابية ضد وزير التجارة لدى الادعاء: خزين الرز غرق في بغداد (وثيقة)
Original addressقدم عضو في لجنة النزاهة النيابية، يوم الأربعاء، شكوى نيابية ضد وزير التجارة اثير داوود بسبب غرق خزين مادة الرز
- Baghdad Today2 January 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تضبط (286) طناً من الأرز المنتهي الصلاحية في المثنى
Original addressضبط أكثر من (191) طناً من مادة الرز برازيلي المنشأ المنتهية الصلاحيَّة منذ العام 2015
- 964 Network11 January 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
حلقة حيدر الحمداني تقود النزاهة إلى مخازن الرز التالف في الحرية
Original addressضبطت هيئة النزاهة، الأربعاء، 261 طناً من الرز التالف بسبب الأمطار في منطقة الحرية ببغداد
- 964 Network29 March 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
فرق النزاهة تلقي القبض على مسؤول سابق في وزارة التجارة
Original addressلعدم تسويق (35 طناً و600 كغم) من مادة العدس في الوقت المُناسب ... الذي يمثل قيمة حمولات (19) شاحنةً مسروقةً من قبل شركة النقل
- 964 Network11 August 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
نزاهة كركوك تعثر على لصوص الرز.. أمين المخازن يدير عمليات السرقة
Original addressضبط السائق الذي يعمل لدى متعهد نقل مفردات البطاقة التموينيَّة الذي قام بإخراج المادة المسروقة من المخازن وبيعها في الأسواق المحلية بتوجيه من أمين المخزن
- Shafaq News12 November 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تضبط 25 ألف كيس "رز متعفن" من مفردات التموينية في ذي قار
Original addressتنفيذ أمر القبض والتحري الصادر بحق كل من مدير الشركة العامة لتجارة المواد الغذائية، فرع المحافظة، ومدير دائرة الرقابة التجارية فيها
- 964 Network17 December 2025Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
وزير التجارة: أكثر من 4 ملايين اسم وهمي ومكرر ومسافر بملف التموينية
Original addressتم الكشف عن أكثر من أربعة ملايين وأربعمائة ألف مواطن بين أسماء وهمية، وتكرار، ومسافرين
- Shafaq News6 May 2026Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
نقص في كميات "الرز" بميسان.. النزاهة تكشف تلاعباً في مخازن الغذائية وتضبط أميني مخزن
Original addressضبط اثنين من أمناء المخازن؛ على خلفيَّة الكشف عن حالة إضرارٍ بالمال العام ناجمة عن نقصٍ في مادة الرز
Related cases
- State Company for Foodstuff Trading: unfit tea for the ration and its directors general before the courts (from 2009 to 2023)
- Najaf grain silos: unfit rice, 752 tonnes of missing wheat and forged grain certificates (from 2018 to 2025)
- Ghost names on the ration card: more than five million entries removed (from 2025 to 2026)