Tikrit: The Federal Integrity Commission announced that its staff in Salah al-Din Governorate arrested the director of the property department in the Tikrit Municipality Directorate. This arrest stemmed from his involvement, along with several employees and intermediaries, in purchasing land allocation receipts from citizens for meager sums. These receipts were then included in land distribution lists in order to seize the land, sell it, and divide the proceeds.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the operation was carried out under a judicial warrant issued by the Salah al-Din Investigation Court judge specializing in integrity cases. The investigation revealed an agreement between several intermediaries and Tikrit Municipality employees. The investigation focused on purchasing receipts from citizens applying for land plots, then including them in distribution records, selling the land, and splitting the profits amongst themselves.

The spokesperson added that the team, after successfully executing the arrest warrant issued against the director of the property department in the Tikrit Municipality Directorate, seized 94 property deeds in the directorate’s name at his residence. Initial investigations revealed the accused had used these deeds for trading purposes and had included them in land distribution records in collusion with intermediaries.

Furthermore, the search of the accused’s residence also resulted in the seizure of several receipts for transactions belonging to citizens, sums of money in Iraqi dinars and US dollars, a modern car, light weapons, and a collection of gold jewelry.

The statement continued, “The team executed an arrest warrant against another suspect, an employee in the property department, and seized a modern vehicle from his home, in addition to a collection of documents and records belonging to the Tikrit Municipality that he had kept in his house. These included land allocation transactions for citizens and property transfer data.” Formal seizure reports were prepared for both operations and presented, along with the suspects and the seized evidence, to the judge of the specialized investigative court for integrity cases, who ordered their detention pending investigation in accordance with Articles 289 and 298.