Iraq’s Integrity Commission Arrests Three Suspects in Kirkuk Over Fraud and Bribery

Iraq’s Federal Commission of Integrity announced that two enforcement operations in Kirkuk resulted in the arrest of three suspects accused of manipulation, forgery, embezzlement, extortion, and bribery.

In a statement, the commission said the first operation uncovered irregularities involving pension records at the National Retirement Authority’s Kirkuk office. The alleged scheme involved the unlawful disbursement of pension payments and accumulated financial entitlements, with several authority employees reportedly collaborating with lawyers and transaction intermediaries.

The operation led to the arrest of two suspects accused of tampering with pension files and unlawfully obtaining more than 84 million Iraqi dinars in accumulated pension payments registered in the name of a female citizen.

In a separate operation, an investigative team in Kirkuk apprehended a member of the Kirkuk Police Command assigned to the police transfers department while he was allegedly receiving a bribe as an intermediary. The case involved the extortion of a detainee, who was reportedly pressured to pay money in exchange for being transferred to another detention location.

The commission added that the judge at the Kirkuk Investigative Court specializing in integrity cases ordered the detention of the suspects under Articles 289 and 298 of the Iraqi Penal Code, along with amended Resolution No. 160 of 1983.