Iraq’s Integrity Commission Arrests Four Baghdad Officials on Bribery Charges

Iraq’s Federal Commission of Integrity announced the arrest of four employees working at municipal departments and the Rusafa Execution Directorate in Baghdad over allegations of accepting bribes in exchange for carrying out or facilitating official duties.

In a statement, the commission said a team from the Baghdad Investigation Directorate, working through its Investigation and Enforcement Department, caught the head of the encroachment division at Abu Ghraib Municipality red-handed while receiving a bribe. The payment was allegedly linked to an agreement not to remove an encroachment on state-owned land.

In a separate operation, two employees at Sadr City Municipality were apprehended after receiving a bribe from a bakery owner. The alleged payment was made in exchange for removing a concrete structure located in front of the bakery.

The commission added that its team subsequently moved to the Rusafa Execution Directorate, where another employee was arrested for allegedly requesting money to conduct an inspection related to the vacating of a property.

The commission noted that the four suspects were ordered detained under Resolution No. 160 of 1983, pursuant to decisions issued by judges at the Rusafa Integrity, Anti-Money Laundering and Economic Crime Investigation Court and the Second Karkh Investigation Court.