BAGHDAD: An Iraqi criminal court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for a businessman and a former government official wanted over their alleged involvement in stealing $2.5 billion of public funds.
The scandal, dubbed the “heist of the century,” sparked widespread anger in Iraq, which is ravaged by rampant corruption, unemployment and decaying infrastructure after decades of conflict.
The criminal court issued the warrants for businessman Nour Zuhair and Haitham Al-Juburi, a former adviser to then prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhemi, state news agency INA reported.
The two suspects are among several facing a trial which opened in mid-August, but are on the run and failed to appear in court.
According to the tax authorities, the defendants allegedly expropriated the $2.5 billion between September 2021 and August 2022 through 247 cheques cashed by five companies.
The money was subsequently withdrawn — in cash — from the firms’ accounts.
The owners of those accounts — most of whom are also on the run — have also been subject to arrest warrants.
Around 30 suspects are facing trial, INA reported, including six already behind bars or awaiting extradition to Iraq, the national anti-fraud agency has said.
In October 2022, Zuhair was arrested at Baghdad airport as he was trying to leave the country.
A month later he was released on bail after giving back more than $125 million and pledging to return the rest in instalments.
Juburi also returned $2.6 million of the allegedly embezzled funds before disappearing, a judicial source told AFP.
The current whereabouts of both men is unknown.
However, wealthy businessman Zuhair was back in the news over the few days after he reportedly had a car crash in Lebanon, following an interview he gave to an Iraqi news channel.
“The Nour Zuhair affair is a scandal... that concerns the entire political system,” Iraqi journalist and commentator Hamed Al-Sayyed told AFP.
He blamed the authorities for releasing him on bail two years ago, allowing him “to flee.”
“His release from jail, at a time when he was being investigated, shows that the political system, at the highest echelons, is complicit,” Sayyed added.
Corruption is endemic in Iraqi state institutions, with the top echelons of power often evading accountability.
Iraq issues arrest warrants for ‘heist of the century’
https://arab.news/vd7gt
Iraq issues arrest warrants for ‘heist of the century’
- The criminal court issued the warrants for businessman Nour Zuhair and Haitham Al-Juburi, a former adviser to then prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhemi
- Suspects are among several facing a trial which opened in mid-August, but are on the run and failed to appear in court
Iran temporarily closes airspace to most flights
WASHINGTON: Iran temporarily closed its airspace to all flights except international ones to and from Iran with official permission at 5:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to a notice posted on the Federal Aviation Administration’s website.
The prohibition is set to last for more than two hours until 7:30 p.m. ET, or 0030 GMT, but could be extended, the notice said. The United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a US official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbors it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.
Missile and drone barrages in a growing number of conflict zones represent a high risk to airline traffic. India’s largest airline, IndiGo said some of its international flights would be impacted by Iran’s sudden airspace closure. A flight by Russia’s Aeroflot bound for Tehran returned to Moscow after the closure, according to tracking data from Flightradar24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany issued a new directive cautioning the country’s airlines from entering Iranian airspace, shortly after Lufthansa rejigged its flight operations across the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region.
The United States already prohibits all US commercial flights from overflying Iran and there are no direct flights between the countries. Airline operators like flydubai and Turkish Airlines have canceled multiple flights to Iran in the past week. “Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information.
“The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.” Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice while it would only operate day flights to Tel Aviv and Amman from Wednesday until Monday next week so that crew would not have to stay overnight.
Some flights could also be canceled as a result of these actions, it added in a statement. Italian carrier ITA Airways, in which Lufthansa Group is now a major shareholder, said that it would similarly suspend night flights to Tel Aviv until Tuesday next week.
