For 'public fund wastage and payroll fraud'
Integrity Commission summons 31 Diwaniyah Education Directorate employees
DIWANIYAH – The Federal Integrity Commission reported on Tuesday that it carried out six operations in the Diwaniyah Education Directorate, Al-Qadisiyah governorate, resulting in the summoning of 31 employees, including the former General Director, for allegations of public fund wastage and payroll fraud.
“Judicial decrees were issued to summon the former General Director of the Diwaniyah Education Directorate and five other defendants for violations related to the certification fees of academic documents,” the commission said in a statement obtained by 964media. The investigative committee’s report and recommendations, which led to disciplinary actions against the accused, were also seized.
The Integrity Commission under the current government has intensified efforts to counter misuse of authority and corruption within government institutions. This initiative is part of the broader governmental strategy to enhance bureaucracy and improve the provision of public services to citizens.
As part of the Diwaniyah operations, the head of the directorate’s computing department and nine other defendants were summoned for wasting public funds through income tax deduction violations between 2015 and 2017. These individuals have been referred to the Central Inclusion Committee.
Nine more employees from the directorate’s accounting department were also summoned for not complying with the National Campaign to Build Schools and Kindergartens Stamp Law No. 19 of 2019, resulting in financial damage to public funds. They were referred to inclusion committees and faced disciplinary actions.
Furthermore, four employees were summoned for violations related to the evaluation of higher degrees obtained outside the ministry’s plan and the lack of control over the inputs and outputs of the computing department concerning various types of leave.
An employee from the directorate was also summoned for adding fictitious names to payroll lists, resulting in disciplinary action and referral to the competent courts. Ghost employees constitutes a major problem in Iraq with a former finance minister Ali Allawi estimating in 2021 that up to 10 percent of those on the state’s payroll were ghost employees.
Another employee was summoned by judicial authorities in Diwaniyah for paying salaries to an employee on a one-year unpaid leave.
Proper records of the operations were organized in accordance with judicial decisions. The investigating judge issued the summoning orders based on Article 331 of the Penal Code, which states that any public official or agent who willfully commits an act in breach of the duties of his office or refrains from executing the affairs of that office with intent to harm the welfare of an individual or to benefit one person at the expense of another or at the expense of the state is punishable by detention plus a fine or by one of those penalties.
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