Court releases detainee in Al-Jumaili money-laundering case
Shafaq News- Nineveh
An Iraqi court released a detainee in a money-laundering case linked to former Deputy Oil Minister for Refining Affairs Adnan Al-Jumaili after investigators found no evidence that he knowingly participated in the transfer of two commercial properties into his name, a security source told Shafaq News on Saturday.
The Nineveh Investigation Court specializing in integrity cases granted Najm Jasim Mohammed bail on Thursday after he spent more than a month in custody in Mosul under Article 2 of Iraq’s Anti-Money Laundering Law.
Mohammed, from Al-Hajjaj village in Saladin province, had worked as a contract employee at the Saladin Water Directorate before being assigned to the Baiji Refinery. He was questioned after two commercial buildings in Mosul were found registered in his name, according to the source.
The inquiry is part of a broader probe into allegations that properties and other holdings were registered under employees’ names to conceal their ownership and illicit origin. In July, the Nineveh Investigation Court ordered the seizure of assets worth about 69 billion dinars ($53.13 million) linked to the Al-Jumaili file, including nine commercial properties in Mosul and three flour mills.
Al-Jumaili, who also headed the North Refineries Company, has been in custody since May 30 over alleged misuse of public funds at the Baiji Refinery, with information obtained during questioning widening the probe to additional government contracts and leading to further arrests.
The Al-Jumaili case became one of the largest investigations under the government’s Dawn Crackdown (Sawlat Al-Fajr) anti-corruption campaign, launched on June 28. By mid-August, authorities had recovered more than $100 million in cash, hundreds of kilograms of gold, dozens of properties, and vehicles, with some of the money concealed inside walls, water bottles, and underground.
On Aug. 31, the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court seized a further 7 billion dinars (about $5.39 million) and $5.5 million, along with 35 properties and six vehicles belonging to Al-Jumaili’s detained office director, Alaa Mohsen Khalaf.
Read more: Iraq’s Dawn Crackdown spreads through state institutions
