A massive corruption scandal has been exposed in Iraq, where $2. 5bn was embezzled from the Iraqi tax commission, roughly 2. 8% of the 2021 state budget. The scheme, first reported via The Guardian, appears implicate a network of corporations and public officials, although, according to the Associated Press, few hold top officials or political leaders to account. The current prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, took the workplace on a promise to fight corruption. Corruption was exposed when an internal audit through the country’s finance ministry revealed last month that five front corporations allegedly fraudulently gained $2. 5 billion from the Iraqi tax commission. The invoices were made from an account that had billions of dollars in deposits made through corporations that expected the budget to be returned to them after taxes were deducted and after presenting updated monetary statements. corporations The theft was uncovered when a major oil company discovered that it may not get its deposits back because the account had a balance of just $100 million. Some of the shell corporations were established just weeks before receiving their rebills, in some cases in cash. Tax officials, civil servants and businessmen must have been involved in the scheme, many think.
