Lawmaker asks public prosecution to sue finance minister and CBI governor

Shafaq News/ An Iraqi lawmaker has asked the public prosecutor to commence legal proceedings against the Iraqi Minister of Finance, Ali Allawi, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Mustafa Ghaleb Makhif, for charges related to foreign currency smuggling.

In a correspondence addressing the Iraqi public prosecutor, MP Hadi al-Salami accused Allawi and Makhif of "corruption" and "wasting public funds" via the currency auctions the CBI organizes on five occasions weekly.

Al-Salami cited a former correspondence with Makhif in which the latter pinned the devaluation decision on Allawi and avoided justifying the difference between the CBI sales and "forged" external remittance invoices.

"The CBI sold $37 billion in 2020 as credits. However, the value of the imported goods is registered in the customs administration is less than $14 billion. There is a huge difference between the funds sold by the CBI and the corresponding external transfers."

The lawmaker accused Minister Allawi and Governor Makhif of "intentionally harming the public funds and citizens" in accordance with Article 111 of the Iraqi Penal Code of 1969.