Iraqi authorities seize over $100 million hidden underground in major oil ministry corruption case

The seizure, tied to a sprawling corruption case involving senior oil officials, required heavy machinery to excavate stolen state funds hidden deep underground.

Iraqi authorities have seized hundreds of millions of dollars tied to a massive embezzlement scheme involving the country’s deputy oil minister and several other officials, recovering stolen state funds that had been hidden inside private homes and buried so deep underground that heavy machinery was required to dig them up.

The Supreme Judicial Council said on Tuesday that a total amount of $107 million was seized, almost all of it in Iraqi dollars. 

This seizure marks the latest development in an ongoing corruption investigation within the Oil Ministry that began with the late May arrest of Adnan Al-Jumaili, Iraq’s deputy minister of oil and refining affairs and several associates. 

Following the arrest of the top official, anti-corruption forces conducted a sweeping raid on his residence, confiscating gold jewelry, assault rifles and ammunition, three billion Iraqi dinars and roughly $10 million in cash.

The Supreme Judicial Council noted that Al-Jumaili’s confessions during questioning led to the discovery of the buried cash, bringing the total funds seized in the probe to over 98 billion dinars (about $96 million) and $11 million. His statements also resulted in the arrests of two other officials: Raed al-Jubouri, the former governor of Salah al-Din, and the governorate’s former director of health.

The investigation is part of a broader anti-graft campaign led by Prime Minister al-Zaidi, who assumed office in May on a pledge to eradicate corruption within the nation’s public sector.

Following deputy minister Al-Jumaili’s arrest, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, a financial advisor to the prime minister, told the Iraqi News Agency that the government is overhauling its strategy to dismantle deeply entrenched networks siphoning state wealth. The goal, Salih said, is “confronting large and organized corruption by creating an effective legal lever and strengthening the power of law enforcement.