Audit board says it warned the Oil Ministry over Jumaili and got no reply

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Federal Board of Supreme Audit warned the Oil Ministry about violations linked to former Deputy Oil Minister Adnan al-Jumaili and received no response, the board’s deputy president said, in the first indication that the ministry was alerted before his arrest.

Qaisar Ghazi said auditors raised concerns while reviewing the file. “We informed the Oil Ministry about what was happening and received no response during the audit of the Jumaili file, and the minister should have responded to our reports,” he told Al-Dijla TV. He said the board’s 2026 annual report will cover the case in detail, including 1.3 trillion dinars spent by the North Oil Company in 2024 and the opening of a bank branch inside the company’s headquarters. Ghazi said the alleged thefts began in 2025.

Jumaili headed the state-owned North Oil Company and North Refineries Company before becoming deputy oil minister for refining affairs. He was removed from his post on May 3 and arrested on May 29 in Salah al-Din governorate over allegations involving commissions, refinery contracts and misuse of public funds. The inquiry has since widened to allegations of money laundering and abuse of state resources involving other officials and business figures.

Judicial authorities say the case began with reports in October 2025 that election candidates had spent unusually large sums during the parliamentary campaign using state resources and backing from figures in the previous government.

Investigators first reported seizing about $10 million, 3 billion dinars, gold, weapons and roughly 40 properties in Baghdad, Salah al-Din and Erbil governorates. Later searches recovered more than $121 million in cash that authorities said had been sealed in plastic water containers and buried at Jumaili’s home in Tikrit, and a further 14 billion dinars from a pit built for stormwater drainage. On July 13 the court announced 358 kilograms of gold recovered with Kurdistan Region authorities, and another 17 kilograms from a separate operation, transferring 375 kilograms to the Central Bank of Iraq that day. On July 16 investigators announced 25 billion dinars, $200,000 and four kilograms of gold jewelry, some left with other people and the rest found inside walls and in water-cooler jugs at several homes, according to the investigating judge. The Supreme Judicial Council announced 13 billion dinars, $400,000 and 40 gold bars on July 22, and the Central Criminal Court for Combating Corruption 27 billion dinars on July 26.

Authorities have also reported seizing more than 40 luxury properties, vehicles, unlicensed weapons and other assets registered to Jumaili or people close to him.

Ahmed al-Mousawi, a lawmaker from the Sadiqoun bloc, has put the value of the alleged thefts at more than 11 trillion dinars, an estimate judicial authorities have not confirmed. The cash recovered and announced so far amounts to about 82 billion dinars and $131.6 million, alongside 379 kilograms of gold and the gold bars.

The case became the basis for a wider operation on June 28, when Counter-Terrorism Service units and army forces sealed Baghdad’s Green Zone and raided homes and offices of current and former officials, lawmakers and business figures. Official accounts of the scale differ: state media reported 47 detainees and published 15 names, a government spokesperson said 21 had been detained with others at large, and the Federal Commission of Integrity confirmed warrants were being executed without giving a total. Security sources said Jumaili’s questioning produced more than 100 names, though not all were subject to warrants.

The wider inquiry also led to the arrest of former Salah al-Din Gov. Raed al-Jubouri, then the governorate’s health director, according to the Supreme Judicial Council. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has called the June operation the first phase of a continuing campaign and said suspects would be pursued regardless of political or institutional affiliation.