Headquarters of Iraq’s Federal Commission of Integrity
Integrity Commission arrests three in Maysan over illegal seizure and sale of state land
MAYSAN — Iraq’s Integrity Commission announced Saturday the arrest of three suspects in Maysan on charges of illegally seizing state-owned land and selling it to citizens by falsely claiming the plots carried legal ownership deeds.
In a statement dated Saturday, the commission said it “managed to arrest three suspects in Maysan governorate for seizing land belonging to the state, which caused deliberate damage to state funds and interests.”
The commission said a team from its Maysan Investigation Office arrested two suspects for “cutting up state-owned land, seizing it and selling it to citizens as Tabu (Sanad 25).” It said the suspects were caught in the act while selling subdivided plots and installing electricity poles, adding that “the total area of the encroached land is estimated at more than eight dunams.”
According to the statement, investigators also arrested a third suspect while attempting to seize agricultural land near the former National ID Department in a neighborhood of Amarah. Upon arriving at the site, the team observed “signs of land clearing, including the opening of an unpaved road through the agricultural land in preparation for dividing it into residential plots.”
The commission said the suspect was “personally carrying out the excavation and subdivision work using a shovel-type machine he was operating,” and that he was arrested “in flagrante delicto for deliberately harming state interests.”
Illegal seizure and exploitation of state land has been a persistent problem across Iraq. In recent months, the Federal Commission of Integrity has reported multiple arrests in several governorates linked to similar schemes involving agricultural and residential land.
In Basra, the commission arrested a surveyor at the Basra and Zubair Agriculture Directorate after finding him in possession of original contract applications, land rental files, cash, gold, electronic payment cards and official equipment connected to state-owned agricultural lands valued at about 5 billion Iraqi dinars. The case was referred to the Basra Court of Inquiry for Integrity and Money Laundering.
In Nineveh, authorities detained the head and members of the Housing Association for Employees of the Nineveh Agriculture Directorate on allegations of seizing government land, subdividing it and selling it to citizens without legal approvals. Those suspects were held under Article 340 of the Penal Code pending investigation.