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IRAQ'S CORRUPTION
العربية
The Record

Timeline

This page lists the dated events on the site from 2003 to 2026, in the order in which they happened. Each event comes from one of the site's datasets and leads to its record: the start of a case, a sanction or a ban, a rule issued by the Central Bank, or a change in the legal status of a person or a company.

Each date is given only as precisely as the source gives it. It may be a day, a month or only a year.

The timeline holds 362 dated events: 98 case beginnings, 48 sanctions and enforcement actions, 82 Central Bank rules, 132 changes in the legal status of people and companies and 2 on how the new financial system was set up.

Kind of event
All 362Cases 98Sanctions and enforcement 48Central Bank rules 82Changes in legal status 132Beginnings 2
Period
All years 98From 2003 to 2009 31From 2010 to 2019 32From 2020 to 2026 35

2003

  1. 2003Case begins
    Custer Battles LLC: False Claims Act liability over CPA currency-exchange contract (from 2003 to 2011)
  2. 2003Case begins
    US reconstruction programme in Iraq: official waste/fraud estimates and prosecution totals (SIGIR 2013; Commission on Wartime Contracting 2011)
  3. 2003Case begins
    Unaccounted oil production and the absence of metering (from 2003 to 2007): 100,000 to 300,000 barrels a day unexplained
  4. 2003Case begins
    Electricity sector: tens of billions spent since 2003 with chronic shortages (structural)
  5. 2003Case begins
    President Barham Salih's "$150bn smuggled" statement and draft Law on Recovering the Proceeds of Corruption (2021)
  6. 2003Case begins
    Customs and border crossings: capture of customs revenue by officials, parties and armed groups (from 2003 to 2021)
  7. 2003Case begins
    Headline estimates of what corruption has cost Iraq since 2003 (verbal claims, never to be summed) and Transparency International scores
  8. 2003Case begins
    Innospec (Octel): bribes to Iraqi Ministry of Oil officials to keep buying tetraethyl lead (from 2004 to 2008)
  9. 2003Case begins
    Seizure of state land and property by influential persons and the Integrity Commission's recovery drive (from 2003 to 2023)
  10. May 2003Case begins
    Airlift of nearly $12bn in cash (Iraqi funds) from the New York Fed to Baghdad, from May 2003 to June 2004
  11. May 2003Case begins
    KBR "Restore Iraqi Oil" fuel imports from Kuwait: DCAA-questioned costs and subcontractor kickbacks (from 2003 to 2005)
  12. September 2003Case begins
    Former Electricity Minister Ayham al-Samarrai: conviction, Green Zone escape and Interpol case (from 2005 to 2008)
  13. October 2003Case begins
    CPA disbursed about $8.8bn of Iraqi DFI funds to ministries without adequate controls (SIGIR 05-004)
  14. December 2003Case begins
    CPA South-Central (al-Hillah) bid-rigging, bribery and theft ring (Bloom-Stein case)

2004

  1. 2004Case begins
    "Brick Tracker": reported $1.2 to 1.6bn of airlifted Iraqi cash hidden in a Lebanese bunker (Risen/NYT, Oct 2014)
  2. 2004Case begins
    Legal shields for corruption: Article 136(b) ministerial veto (to 2011) and general amnesty laws (2008, 2016, 2025 amendment)
  3. 2004Case begins
    Integrity Commission chief Radhi al-Radhi's resignation and testimony alleging political obstruction (2007)
  4. 2004Case begins
    Federal Integrity Commission statistics: cases, convictions, ministers charged and funds recovered (from 2004 to 2021, selected years)
  5. June 2004Case begins
    The "$6.6bn missing" question: DFI funds at CPA dissolution and DoD's undocumented spending (SIGIR reports from 2010 to 2012)
  6. June 2004Case begins
    Ministry of Defence arms-procurement scandal under the interim government (about $1.3bn, from 2004 to 2005)

2005

  1. 2005Case begins
    Baiji refinery fuel diversion to the black market (from 2005 to 2007)
  2. 2005Case begins
    Corruption at Iraq's Sunni Endowment Diwan: bribery, an inflated property purchase and a hotel-acquisition case (from 2010 to 2023)
  3. June 2005Case begins
    Unaoil bribery of South Oil Company and Oil Ministry officials for "Master Plan" contracts (from 2005 to 2011)

2006

  1. 2006Case begins
    Selected convictions of ministers, governors and senior officials (from 2015 to 2022)
  2. 2006Case begins
    Rolls-Royce: Iraq bribery in its global FCPA/DOJ resolution over South Oil Company gas turbines (from 2006 to 2009; resolved 2017)
  3. 2006Case begins
    Parliamentary Integrity Committee finding: 4,600 fictitious ('ghost') projects under the Maliki government (announced January 2015)
  4. June 2006Case begins
    Ministry of Trade food-ration (Public Distribution System) scandal and Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudani (from 2006 to 2018)

2007

  1. January 2007Case begins
    ADE 651 fake bomb detectors bought by the Ministry of Interior (from 2007 to 2010)

2008

  1. 2008Case begins
    Health procurement: substandard medicines, Kimadia supply failures and stalled hospital projects (from 2008 to 2024)
  2. 2008Case begins
    The "steel-frame schools" (Duwaliya) school-building programme: most of the money spent, most schools unfinished (from 2008 to 2021)
  3. 2008Case begins
    TechnipFMC / FMC Technologies: bribery of Iraqi Ministry of Oil officials for metering-technology contracts (from 2008 to 2013; resolved 2019)

2010

  1. 2010Case begins
    Leighton Offshore / Iraq Crude Oil Export pipelines: bribes via Unaoil (Australian prosecutions, from 2010 to 2026)
  2. 2010Case begins
    Warka Bank: depositor run, delisting and Central Bank custodianship (from 2010 to 2013)

2011

  1. 2011Case begins
    Petrofac: failure to prevent bribery to win oil contracts in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and UAE (UK SFO, from 2011 to 2021)
  2. 2011Case begins
    Ericsson's Iraq payments (from 2011 to 2019): internal probe, possible payments to ISIS and Swedish criminal investigation
  3. March 2011Case begins
    Korek Telecom: ICC arbitration finding fraud and corruption against Korek and Sirwan Barzani, and the regulator's 2026 asset seizure
  4. June 2011Case begins
    Trade Bank of Iraq: raid, arrest warrant for its president and disputed allegations (2011)
  5. July 2011Case begins
    Electricity Minister Raad Shallal dismissed over $1.7bn contracts with a non-existent Canadian firm and a bankrupt German firm (2011)

2012

  1. 2012Case begins
    Parliamentary finance committee (Ahmad Chalabi) dossier: Al-Huda Bank and forged import documents in the dollar auction (from 2012 to 2015)
  2. July 2012Case begins
    Elaf Islamic Bank: US CISADA sanctions for facilitating Iranian bank transactions, and 2013 delisting
  3. October 2012Case begins
    Prosecution of Central Bank governor Sinan al-Shabibi and deputy Mudhir Salih over the dollar auction (from 2012 to 2015)
  4. October 2012Case begins
    The 2012 Russian arms package (about $4.2bn) and alleged commissions

2014

  1. 2014Case begins
    Kurdistan Region independent oil sales: revenue opacity, prepayment debts and funds frozen in Lebanon (from 2014 to 2023)
  2. 2014Case begins
    "Ghost soldiers": 50,000 fictitious names on the army payroll (Abadi, November 2014)
  3. 2014Case begins
    Funds for displaced persons: the Higher Committee for Relief and Sheltering of the Displaced (from 2014 to 2023)
  4. 2014Case begins
    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)
  5. 2014Case begins
    Former ministers, governors and officials sentenced, from 2024 to 2026 (Integrity Commission statements)

2015

  1. 2015Case begins
    Ghost employees, double salaries and pension fraud in the public payroll (from 2015 to 2021)
  2. 2015Case begins
    Alleged kickback demands in UNDP's Funding Facility for Stabilization reconstruction projects (reported January 2024)

2016

  1. August 2016Case begins
    Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi's 2016 accusations of extortion by the Speaker and MPs, and his dismissal

2017

  1. 2017Case begins
    Nineveh governor Nawfal al-Akoub: reconstruction and displaced-persons funds (from 2017 to 2019)
  2. 2017Case begins
    Qi Card / International Smart Card: IQD 231bn of duplicated pension payments for retirees abroad recovered (from 2017 to 2022)
  3. August 2017Case begins
    Iraqi Airways: chairman arrested taking a bribe (2017), contract investigations (2024) and IQD 19bn recovered (2026)
  4. August 2017Case begins
    August 2017: arrest warrants and a conviction topple the governors of Salah al-Din, Basra and Anbar
  5. November 2017Case begins
    Qi Card: Pension Fund and Rafidain Bank money lent through Qi Card, IQD 5.91 trillion to about 847,000 borrowers (from 2017 to 2021)

2018

  1. 2018Case begins
    Deputy Oil Minister Ali Maarij al-Bahadly: US designation for diverting oil to Iran-linked networks and Iraqi illicit-enrichment conviction (2026)
  2. 2018Case begins
    PMF "ghost fighters": payroll-inflation allegations and the unsolved killing of the force's finance chief
  3. March 2018Case begins
    Former Nineveh governor Atheel al-Nujaifi: arrest warrants and sentences in absentia (from 2018 to 2022)
  4. May 2018Case begins
    Al-Bilad Islamic Bank and its owner Aras Habib Kareem: US terrorism-finance designation for moving IRGC-Qods Force funds through Iraq's banking system (2018)
  5. October 2018Case begins
    Luay al-Khateeb: suspended sentence over an $808m Baghdad power-station contract (2022)
  6. December 2018Case begins
    Kirkuk governor Rakan al-Jubouri: warrants, a travel ban, and a 2025 arrest and bail (from 2018 to 2025)

2019

  1. 2019Case begins
    IQD 926bn (about $700m) embezzled at branches of Rasheed Bank and the Agricultural Cooperative Bank (announced June 2022)
  2. July 2019Case begins
    US Global Magnitsky corruption designations of Iraqi figures: two ex-governors (July 2019) and Khamis al-Khanjar (Dec 2019)

2020

  1. 2020Case begins
    Iranian oil passed off as Iraqi: Salim Ahmed Said and Waleed al-Samarra'i networks (US designations, 2025)
  2. 2020Case begins
    Kurdistan Region: 16,500 double-salary earners removed (2020) and UN monitoring of grand-corruption trials (from 2024 to 2025)
  3. June 2020Case begins
    Bribery and fake-produce racket at Iraqi Grain Board wheat-collection silos
  4. August 2020Case begins
    Committee 29 ("Abu Ragheef committee"): PM Kadhimi's special anti-corruption committee (from 2020 to 2022)
  5. November 2020Case begins
    Raad al-Haris: former deputy electricity minister and PM adviser convicted of bribery (2022)

2021

  1. April 2021Case begins
    COVID-ward fires at Ibn al-Khatib (Baghdad, April 2021) and al-Hussein (Nasiriyah, July 2021) hospitals: negligence and corruption
  2. September 2021Case begins
    "Theft of the Century": about IQD 3.8 trillion (about $2.5bn) withdrawn from the General Commission for Taxes trust deposits at Rafidain Bank (from 2021 to 2022)
  3. October 2021Case begins
    Sabah al-Kinani, civil-society head and parliamentary candidate: caught, according to the Integrity Commission, taking $30,000 from a director-general (2021)

2022

  1. 2022Case begins
    Zubair oilfield pipeline-tapping ring and arrest of oil-protection police generals (Basra, 2022)
  2. 2022Case begins
    Central Electricity Distribution Company: seven-year illicit-enrichment sentence for a former director general and a three-year sentence for its finance director (2026)
  3. January 2022Case begins
    Shakir Al Zamili: former head of Baghdad's Investment Commission jailed over the Baghdad Star housing project (2022)
  4. November 2022Case begins
    US-driven dollar restrictions and Central Bank bans on Iraqi banks (from 2022 to 2026)
  5. November 2022Case begins
    Subsidised fuel oil diverted via asphalt plants and smuggled through Basra (from 2022 to 2024)

2023

  1. 2023Case begins
    Travellers' dollars: abuse of the official-rate cash allowance for travellers and Central Bank counter-measures (from 2023 to 2024)
  2. 2023Case begins
    Recovering assets abroad: Iraq's record from 2023 to 2026 (41 requests for mutual legal assistance; about $17.4m recovered in 2025)
  3. January 2023Case begins
    Card-based dollar arbitrage: Iraqi prepaid and debit cards on the Visa and Mastercard networks (from 2023 to 2025)
  4. February 2023Case begins
    Muhandis General Company: US designation for diverting Iraqi government contract funds to Kata'ib Hizballah (2025)
  5. April 2023Case begins
    Kurdistan Region crude trucked to Iran outside official channels during the pipeline shutdown (from 2023 to 2025)
  6. July 2023Case begins
    Al-Taif Islamic Bank placed under Central Bank of Iraq guardianship over undisclosed violations (2026)

2024

  1. January 2024Case begins
    Al-Huda Bank: FinCEN Section 311 finding and OFAC designation of its owner (2024)
  2. January 2024Case begins
    Fly Baghdad: OFAC terrorism-finance sanctions (2024) and 2026 delisting of the airline
  3. January 2024Case begins
    Muhammad Hanash Mahmoud Daki: illicit-enrichment conviction, Trebil border-crossing customs (2024)
  4. January 2024Case begins
    US civil lawsuit against Kurdistan Region leaders (Revend et al. v. Barzani et al., D.D.C. No. 1:24-cv-00278), 2024
  5. February 2024Case begins
    Basra Governor Asaad al-Eidani: parliamentary probe into land allocation and financial mismanagement (from 2024 to 2025)
  6. March 2024Case begins
    Members of parliament and a senior adviser: sentences, warrants and arrests (from 2024 to 2026)
  7. September 2024Case begins
    Head of the Integrity Commission, Haider Hanoun: leaked recordings, a Maysan land plot and an arrest order (2024)
  8. October 2024Case begins
    Audio leak attributed to PM adviser Abdel Karim al-Faisal complaining a bribe was "only $1 million" (Nov 2024)

2025

  1. October 2025Case begins
    Cancellation of the $764m Baghdad International Airport redevelopment contract over corruption concerns (2026)

2026

  1. January 2026Case begins
    Baqubah Municipality land-allocation fraud: in-absentia conviction of Saad Nasr Alwan (2026)
  2. May 2026Case begins
    Deputy Oil Minister for Refining Adnan al-Jumaili: arrest and seizure of about $107m in cash, gold and property (2026)
  3. June 2026Case begins
    Green Zone anti-corruption raids: 47 officials arrested including 13 MPs and a deputy oil minister (28 to 29 June 2026)
  4. July 2026Case begins
    Illicit-enrichment and bribery convictions of MPs and senior officials after the 2026 crackdown
  5. July 2026Case begins
    Rafidain Bank Diwaniyah branch banknote-swap embezzlement (2026)
  6. August 2026Case begins
    Khalid Ghazay Atiya: Ministry of Electricity official arrested with millions in cash and gold (2026)
  7. August 2026Case begins
    Ammar Jabr Khalil Abd al-Hamid: former Salah al-Din governor convicted in absentia of illicit enrichment (2026)
Download:timeline.csv.xlsxrules_timeline.csv.xlsxenforcement.csv.xlsx