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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. Deputy Oil Minister for Refining Adnan al-Jumaili: arrest and seizure of about $107m in cash, gold and property (2026)
    From May 2026 to July 2026Oil and gasCriminal prosecution
    $10 millionTier D
    4 named · 0 convicted or reported convicted
  2. Subsidised fuel oil diverted via asphalt plants and smuggled through Basra (from 2022 to 2024)
    From November 2022 to July 2024Oil and gasMedia investigation
    No dollar figure
    No one named
  3. Zubair oilfield pipeline-tapping ring and arrest of oil-protection police generals (Basra, 2022)
    From 2022 to January 2023Oil and gasCriminal prosecution
    No dollar figure
    3 named · 1 convicted or reported convicted
  4. Iranian oil passed off as Iraqi: Salim Ahmed Said and Waleed al-Samarra'i networks (US designations, 2025)
    From 2020 to September 2025Oil and gasSanctions designation
    $300 millionTier A
    3 named · 0 convicted or reported convicted
  5. Deputy Oil Minister Ali Maarij al-Bahadly: US designation for diverting oil to Iran-linked networks and Iraqi illicit-enrichment conviction (2026)
    From 2018 to August 2026Oil and gasCriminal prosecution
    $20.2 millionTier D
    2 named · 1 convicted or reported convicted
  6. Baiji refinery fuel diversion to the black market (from 2005 to 2007)
    From 2005 to February 2007Oil and gasOfficial statement or estimate
    $2 billionTier A
    No one named
  7. Unaccounted oil production and the absence of metering (from 2003 to 2007): 100,000 to 300,000 barrels/day unexplained
    From 2003 to 2007Oil and gasAudit finding
    $1.8 billionTier A
    No one named