Iraq’s ‘Heist of the Century’ Returns to Spotlight with $5 Billion Figure

Iraq’s massive tax embezzlement scandal – widely known as the “Heist of the Century” – has resurfaced with a dramatically higher estimated value of 8 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $5 billion), nearly double the amount originally announced when the scandal first erupted in October 2022. The new figure was disclosed Tuesday by Talib al-Baidhani, a member of parliament’s Integrity Committee, who also revealed that about 30 additional individuals are now suspected of involvement in the case. The latest development comes just days after parliament approved a new government led by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman with no political background who has pledged to strengthen the economy and fight corruption – promises repeated by successive Iraqi governments since 2003. The scandal dates back roughly four years and centers on the theft of tax deposit funds through five shell companies allegedly working with officials from the General Commission for Taxes and Rafidain Bank, as well as senior state officials, lawmakers, contractors, and brokers. Speaking to Iraq’s state newspaper, al-Baidhani said parliament’s Integrity Committee is determined to recover Iraqi stolen funds and continue pursuing the case in coordination with the Federal Integrity Commission. The scandal first became public on October 18, 2022, when former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi confirmed an investigation into the theft of tax trust funds and accused some parties of exploiting the case to shield corrupt figures. Two months later, former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced the recovery of more than 300 billion dinars, an amount critics described as negligible compared with the scale of the theft. Sudani promised the rest would be recovered, but his government later failed to do so. Al-Baidhani, who belongs to the Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement, said some funds have already been recovered, while large sums remain outside Iraq and require coordinated efforts between parliament and al-Zaidi’s government to retrieve them. He described the recovery effort as “the real beginning” of holding all those involved accountable for stolen public funds and suspicious deals. Al-Baidhani added that the scandal was initially estimated at around 2.5 trillion dinars, but subsequent investigations by the Federal Integrity Commission uncovered much larger embezzlement operations, pushing the total to nearly 8 trillion dinars. He did not explain when or how those investigations were conducted. In late October 2022, Iraqi authorities arrested the case’s main suspect, Nour Zuhair, chairman of one of the companies implicated in the scheme. He was later released on bail after Sudani announced the recovery of 5 percent of the stolen funds in exchange for Zuhair’s pledge to return the remaining money within days. Shortly after his release, however, Zuhair fled Iraq and has remained missing ever since. For years, Iraqi courts have continued issuing prison sentences against individuals linked to the tax theft, but without recovering the missing funds or apprehending the key suspects. The failure has fueled public criticism and accusations that the case is being used for political blackmail while influential political actors implicated “behind the scenes” remain protected. Separately, al-Baidhani urged Iraq’s Foreign Ministry to recover properties tied to Saddam Hussein’s former regime through coordination with countries that have treaties with Iraq. After Saddam Hussein’s fall in 2003, several Western governments froze Iraqi assets linked to the former regime and Hussein’s family under UN Security Council Resolution 1483, including bank accounts, real estate, and investments in countries such as France and Switzerland.