Salah al-Din ex-official wanted over 3 billion dinars in fuel funds

SALAH AL-DIN — A former accounts official in Salah al-Din governorate is wanted for allegedly misappropriating 2.975 billion dinars (about $2 million at the official rate) meant for generator fuel at government institutions, Iraq’s Federal Commission of Integrity said Sunday.

Investigators from the commission’s Salah al-Din office uncovered the alleged misappropriation while examining financial records and transactions related to the fuel procurement program, the commission said in a statement.

The former official received the money from the fuel purchasing committee after claiming that the governor had authorized him to collect it, and later refused to return it, according to the commission. An investigative judge specializing in corruption cases in Salah al-Din issued an arrest warrant under Article 316 of the Penal Code, which covers the misappropriation of public funds. The commission did not name the former official or say when the money was allegedly taken.

In a separate case, the commission said it had uncovered suspected waste of public money at the Salah al-Din Health Directorate over medical equipment bought for Tuz Hospital, which investigators found had no need for it. The equipment, including five blood-drawing chairs, five electrocardiogram machines, a laboratory incubator and three centrifuges, was left uninstalled and deteriorating. Investigators also identified delays in completing procurement contracts, seized documents related to the purchases and asked Salah al-Din’s financial oversight directorate to assess how much public money was wasted, the commission said.

Iraq’s government allocates fuel to generators serving state institutions and private operators to make up for shortfalls in the national grid. In January, the Oil Ministry cut fuel allocations to government institutions by 50%, covering diesel, gasoline and other petroleum products, but the cabinet exempted fuel for generators run by those institutions for six months.

In May, the government cut the price of diesel for private generators to 200 dinars (about 13 cents at the time) a liter for three months, with an allocation of 40 liters per kilovolt of capacity, to keep households and businesses supplied during summer power shortages. On Sept. 1, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered continued fuel support at 400 dinars a liter (about 30 cents at the time), requiring operators to provide at least 20 hours of combined generator and grid power a day, after generator owners protested over fuel shortages, taxes and operating costs.

In July, the commission proposed tighter oversight of private generators, recommending that subsidized fuel be tied to compliance with official tariffs and operating hours, along with stronger inspections, better registration of operators and penalties for violations.