Three high-ranking government officials in Kirkuk and tens of employees have been sentenced to prison on corruption charges, and tens of others are under investigation and have been released on bail.
All the cases, brought by the Federal Integrity Commission, are from this year and involve corruption and waste of public wealth
A source who has knowledge on some of the cases, (and who requested to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the cases and his own safety), told KirkukNow: “Recently, three high-ranking officials in Kirkuk have been tried and sentenced to prison on charges of corruption, wasting public wealth and taking bribes.”
He added that tens of other government officials and employees are under investigation by the Integrity Commission.
Recently, three high-ranking officials in Kirkuk have been tried and sentenced to prison on charges of corruption, wasting public wealth and taking bribes
The three officials are: Colonel Shérzad Ahmad, former director of Kirkuk Traffic Police, sentenced to seven years imprisonment; Abbas Taqi, former rector of Kirkuk University, sentenced to two years imprisonment; Abdulkarim Hasan, former head of Kirkuk Municipality, sentenced to six months imprisonment.
The case of Colonel Shérzad Ahmad, former director of Kirkuk Traffic Police, and a number of officers from the same directorate, is about illegally registering car number plates. According to the source, “after 11 months of imprisonment in Baghdad, they were sentenced by a judge.”
“But the case of Abbas Taqi, the former rector of Kirkuk University, is about wasting public wealth during his tenure,” the source said.
And the charges against Abdulkarim Hasan, former head of Kirkuk Municipality, were based on purchasing rubbish bags from a company during his tenure.
Abdulkarim Hasan had been in prison in Kirkuk for about five weeks, and last week was transferred to Azadi hospital due to health complications.
The source also added that, “Fazil Aswad, former head of Kirkuk Education Department, has been under arrest for two weeks on corruption charges,” involving the “building of schools in the areas liberated from ISIS.”
In the past two months, a number of officials in Kirkuk have been released on bail. Among them are the current and former heads of Kirkuk Electricity Directorate, and the current and former directors of Kirkuk Production Committee.
“Jasim Rahman, former head of Dubis Administrative Council, and Abd Ali, the current head of Kirkuk Education Directorate, are released on bail.”
On 15 September this year, the Integrity Commission issued summons and travel ban orders for the former and current governors of Kirkuk and another official in charge of building schools, and arrest orders for 23 other employees, all involving a case of the building of a number of schools.
