Deputy oil minister sanctioned by Washington in May jailed for seven years

BAGHDAD — Deputy Oil Minister for Distribution Ali Maarij al-Bahadli has been sentenced to seven years in prison for illicit enrichment, four months after the Oil Ministry publicly rejected U.S. allegations against him. Former lawmaker Talal al-Zobaie received the same term in a separate case.

The Anti-Corruption Criminal Court found Bahadli had accumulated about 26.5 billion dinars, roughly $20 million at the official rate, in illicit and unexplained wealth, and ordered him to pay 53 billion — the value of the gains and a matching fine, the Federal Commission of Integrity said. Zobaie was found to have accumulated nearly 35 billion dinars, about $26.5 million, and ordered to pay nearly 70 billion.

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Bahadli on May 7 over allegations he facilitated oil smuggling benefiting a network linked to Iran and Asaib Ahl al-Haq. The Oil Ministry rejected that the following day, saying exports and marketing were not within his responsibilities and that it was ready to cooperate with any investigation. He was later detained, and on June 29 investigators drilled into the walls of his home searching for hidden money, recovering an initial $11 million and 4 billion dinars and placing several properties under seizure.

The convictions are the latest in a run since Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s campaign began. The Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court jailed politician Yazan Mishaan Rakad al-Jubouri for five years in June for obtaining 41 billion dinars by falsely claiming influence in the prime minister’s office. In July, courts sentenced sitting lawmaker Mohammed Nasser Dali al-Karbouli to two years for soliciting a $50,000 bribe and lawmaker Hasnain Qasim Mohammed al-Khafaji to two years for blackmail over a demand for $500,000 and a stake in a residential project, while a Nasiriyah court jailed the municipality’s property department director and his wife, a city planning employee, for five years for illicit enrichment. In August the director general of the state-owned General Company for Electric Power Production in the Middle Euphrates and his office director were jailed for six years for taking bribes to release payments owed to a contractor.

The campaign accelerated after the arrest of former Deputy Oil Minister Adnan al-Jumaili in May, whose interrogation state media cited as the basis for the June 28 “Dawn Strike” operation inside the Green Zone. State media said 47 lawmakers and officials were detained and published 15 names; 964media could not verify the total. Sources told 964media in late August that authorities were examining an initial list of about 6,000 people over suspected unexplained wealth.