Integrity Commission blocks seizure of 385 state properties valued at nearly $5 million

ANBAR — Iraq’s Integrity Commission said Monday it had blocked an attempt to illegally acquire 385 state-owned properties in Anbar governorate, with a total estimated value of 7 billion Iraqi dinars (about $4.93 million).

Investigators uncovered the scheme during a field visit to the Real Estate Registration Directorate in Fallujah, the commission said in a statement. The targeted properties, covering 96,250 square meters, were registered under the Ministry of Finance.

According to the statement, falsified documents were used to transfer ownership of parts of two state-owned parcels. These were subdivided into dozens of 250-square-meter lots with service infrastructure and registered under a housing cooperative in Anbar.

The plots were then transferred to individuals closely linked to staff at the Fallujah real estate office, the commission said, using fake letters and without authorization from either the Fallujah Municipality or the Finance Ministry. The transfers also lacked any approved urban planning documents.

All relevant property files have been seized, and the Anbar anti-corruption court has frozen the records and issued official holds on the affected plots.

The announcement comes amid broader concerns over illegal sales and transfers of state land. On March 12, 2025, lawmakers and officials warned that thousands of government properties had been illicitly occupied or sold below market value, often with the help of political or armed factions.

On May 4, the Integrity Commission announced the arrest of seven government employees in Salah Al-Din on fraud and forgery charges related to real estate sales and pension disbursements. In July 2024, it uncovered falsified compensation and pricing records tied to real estate allocations in Dhi Qar, involving more than 22 billion dinars ($16.6 million).