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IRAQ'S CORRUPTION
العربية
Cases

Corruption cases in Iraq since 2003

This section holds 98 documented cases. They run from 2003 to 2026. They cover banks and the dollar sale, oil and electricity, customs and ports, defence, local government, religious endowments and the Kurdistan Region.

Each case names the people and institutions involved, with their exact legal status on the date shown: convicted, convicted in their absence, charged, accused, under sanctions, acquitted or pardoned. No one is called a criminal unless a court has convicted them.

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  1. US civil lawsuit against Kurdistan Region leaders (Revend et al. v. Barzani et al., US District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:24-cv-00278), since 2024
    From January 2024 to August 2026Kurdistan RegionCivil lawsuit, not yet decided (allegations)
    No dollar figure
    3 named · 0 convicted or reported convicted
  2. Kurdistan Region crude trucked to Iran outside official channels during the pipeline shutdown (from 2023 to 2025)
    From April 2023 to September 2025Kurdistan RegionMedia investigation
    $200 millionTier D
    No one named
  3. Kurdistan Region: 16,500 double-salary earners removed (2020) and UN monitoring of grand-corruption trials (from 2024 to 2025)
    From 2020 to December 2025Kurdistan RegionOfficial statement or estimate
    No dollar figure
    1 named · 0 convicted or reported convicted
  4. Iraq v. Turkey ICC arbitration: $1.47bn award over Turkey's unauthorised transit of Kurdistan Region crude through the Ceyhan pipeline (from 2014 to 2018)
    From 2014 to July 2026Kurdistan RegionCivil case or arbitration
    $1.5 billionTier D
    No one named
  5. Kurdistan Region independent oil sales: revenue opacity, prepayment debts and funds frozen in Lebanon (from 2014 to 2023)
    From 2014 to March 2023Kurdistan RegionStructural leakage
    $3.4 billionTier A
    No one named