PM Barzani orders wider cooperation with Baghdad on corruption as gold handed over

ERBIL — Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has directed security and interior agencies to expand cooperation with federal authorities in pursuing corruption suspects and recovering public assets, as the regional government confirmed the transfer of 358 kilograms of seized gold to Iraq’s Federal Commission of Integrity.

Barzani’s office said Monday the directive instructed the Kurdistan Region Interior Ministry and institutions under the Kurdistan Region Security Council to work with relevant federal bodies on corruption investigations and enforcement. It described the move as part of continuing coordination between Barzani and federal Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, and between the two governments’ institutions.

The regional government said previous joint efforts had led to the arrest of corruption suspects and the recovery of large amounts of cash, gold, property and other assets for the public treasury.

In the latest operation, Kurdistan Region authorities handed 358 kilograms of seized gold to the Federal Commission of Integrity, the statement said, without disclosing where the gold was recovered, when it was seized or who had held it.

Iraq’s Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court said earlier Monday that the gold was recovered in the investigation into detained Deputy Oil Minister for Refining Affairs Adnan al-Jumaili, through coordination with authorities in the Kurdistan Region. Another 17 kilograms was recovered in a separate operation, bringing the total announced Monday to 375 kilograms, which was transferred to the Central Bank of Iraq. Shown in bars, the gold would be worth roughly $49 million at current international prices.

Also Monday, the Nineveh Integrity Investigation Court ordered the seizure of nine commercial properties, three flour mills and seven transport trucks in Mosul worth an estimated 69 billion dinars, about $52 million at the official rate. Investigators said the assets had been registered in the names of workers employed by the suspects “to disguise and conceal their illicit origin,” and judicial custodians were appointed to run the businesses and collect their revenues while proceedings continue.

The measures followed the recovery of 14 billion dinars from a stormwater drainage pit and more than $121 million in cash that authorities said had been stored in plastic water bottles buried at Jumaili’s home in Tikrit. Authorities have also reported seizing more than 40 properties, luxury vehicles, weapons and other assets linked to Jumaili and people close to him.

Jumaili, who previously headed the state-owned North Oil Company and North Refineries Company, was dismissed in late May and arrested in Salah al-Din governorate over allegations involving refinery contracts, commissions and the waste of public funds.

Barzani’s office said the Kurdistan Regional Government would continue working with federal authorities to combat corruption, curb the misuse of public funds and uphold the rule of law.