Iraq says over $60 million in public funds embezzled in Mosul

Iraq’s anti-corruption body has accused officials in the northern province of Nineveh of embezzling more than $60 million in public funds, saying the crime was committed after the governor was sacked last month.

According to a statement by the anti-corruption Integrity Commission on Monday, officials from Nineveh, of which Mosul is the capital, had stolen a total of $64 million in public funds.

It added that of this huge sum, nearly $40 million had been allocated to rebuild Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, which was ravaged by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.

Daesh had turned Mosul to its de facto capital in the country from mid-2014 to July 2017, when the city was finally liberated from the grips of the terror outfit, following several months of fierce fighting.

The statement added that the embezzlement occurred in the aftermath of a ferry sinking in the province in March that claimed the lives of more than 100 people.