Integrity body arrests notary employee over bribe

NASIRIYAH — Iraq’s Federal Commission of Integrity said Wednesday it carried out an arrest operation against an employee at a notary public office in Dhi Qar governorate on bribery charges.

The commission said in a statement that “the work team formed in the Dhi Qar Investigation Office managed to arrest an employee at the Nasiriyah notary public in the act of committing the crime while receiving an amount of 2,800,000 dinars ($1,918) as a bribe.”

It said the money was taken “in exchange for overlooking the initiation of legal procedures against a citizen due to the presence of forged documents.”

The commission said the seized amount represented “the first installment of the total agreed bribe amounting to 20,000,000 dinars ($13,699),” adding that the operation was carried out “pursuant to a judicial warrant and in accordance with the provisions of Article 307 of the Penal Code.”

It said a second suspect described as “the accomplice” was also arrested during the operation.

According to the statement, the suspects were presented before the judge responsible for integrity cases in Dhi Qar, who decided to detain the first suspect and release the second on bail.