Some Previous government figures involved in Zuhair theft case, says Judge Jaafar

INA – BAGHDAD
 
The judge of Al-Karkh Investigation Court specializing in integrity issues, Diaa Jaafar, issued a clarification on the news about the release of Nour Zuhair, one of the accused of stealing tax amounts and customs deposits on financial bail, while revealing that high-ranking figures in the previous government were involved in the theft process.
 
"The process of releasing Nour Zuhair, one of the accused of stealing tax deposits on a financial bail, was carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure after he showed a willingness to hand over the financial sums owed by his companies and to conduct a financial settlement amounting to more than one trillion and six hundred billion dinars during a specified period of time,” said Jaafar in an interview with the Iraqi News Agency – INA.
 
Jaafar stressed that “there is no truth to what is being circulated that the release of the accused, Nour Zuhair, was for the purpose of allowing the sale of the seized properties. All the properties are seized and will not be lifted until the investigations are completed.”
 
He explained that "the reason for the court's acceptance of what the accused offered in the financial settlement is the absence of a legal impediment to it."
 
“The accused, Nour Zuhair, has real estate and investments that exceed the total amount of money stolen from tax insurance, and it is unlikely that he will escape outside the country after being released on financial bail, compared to the size of his investments and real estate seized by the court, as this will allow the state to confiscate them," he highlighted.
 
Judge Jaafar indicated that "one of the companies was accused of stealing insurance, and through investigations, it became clear that it entered the currency auction and carried out money transfers outside the country to different companies," stressing the difficulty of counting the stolen funds from the trusts, whether smuggled outside the country or the existed ones. 

"Initial investigations may prove the involvement of high-ranking figures of the previous government in the theft process. The judiciary is serious about finding all the threads of the crime, the elements of the entire network, and the parts connected to it,” he noted.
 
He pointed out that "new judicial orders were issued, based on investigations, against employees and people related to the theft of the century,” adding that "the media focus on Nour Zuhair only made the rest of the parties relax without mentioning the ones that participated in the theft, and that the ongoing investigations indicate that a number of politicians who confirm the focus on the accused, Nour Zuhair, without the rest of the accused parties, in exchange for sums of money paid by these parties. They will take legal action as soon as the evidence is complete as mentioned above."

"The advisor in the previous government, Haitham al-Jubouri, is still under ongoing investigations against him, following the correspondences sent by him regarding canceling the audit of the Financial Supervision Bureau of the insurance amounts," he included, pointing to the issuance of judicial arrest warrants against an employee of integrity called “Bashir”, who is a fugitive outside Iraq, and a warrant was issued against him. He was arrested for receiving sums of money from the defendants in this case in return for violating his job duties.