Ex-chief of Iraqi public lender held in UAE: Anti-graft agency

A former Iraqi bank chief accused of misappropriating $1.2 billion has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates, authorities in Baghdad said on Thursday.

The arrest came as Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visited the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

Hamdiya al-Jaf was "guilty" of "misappropriation of public funds" for a total of $1.2 billion while she was director general of the public Trade Bank of Iraq, the country's anti-corruption agency said in a statement, announcing her arrest.

Emirati authorities did not immediately confirm the move, and it was not immediately clear how long Jaf, who was head of the bank from 2011 to 2016, had been in the UAE.

Iraqi media reported that Jaf had been sentenced in absentia at least twice — in 2020 and 2021 — to prison terms of seven and five years respectively.

Local media said she had agreed a $40-million loan for a company without it having provided the required guarantees, among other irregular dealings.

The anti-corruption authority said it had made 17 extradition requests for Jaf to the public prosecution in the past.

Her arrest is "the first example of cooperation with Abu Dhabi", an official from the anti-corruption body told AFP on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The official said "dozens" of requests had been made over people accused of illicitly transferring public money to the UAE.

Sudani's government regularly says fighting corruption and protecting public funds are its top priority.

In October, Iraq was rocked by revelations that $2.5 billion in public funds had been stolen from a government account.

The premier said recently that new banking regulations had revealed fraudulent dollar transactions made from Iraq.

The elite routinely evade accountability in corruption cases in the oil-rich country ravaged by endemic graft.