Baghdad: The staff of the Integrity Commission in Diwaniyah: were able to dismantle a network that was carrying out forgery and manipulation operations in the directorates of the municipality and the civil status, passports, and residency in the governorate, with the aim of seizing public funds and obtaining plots of land and loans illegally.
According to National Iraqi News Agency, the commission indicated in a statement that, after receiving information about a network consisting of employees, lawyers, and others ‘in more than one governorate’ engaging in forgery operations, a team was formed from the commission’s investigation office in Diwaniyah to search, investigate, and verify this information. The statement indicated that the team went to the directorates of the municipality and the civil status, passports, and residency, and was able to arrest 13 people; they organized 243 loan disbursement transactions using forged endorsements and routine guarantees from 12 government banks in several governorates. Additionally, they granted 13 plots of land to ineligible individuals from outside the governorate, based on forged residency endorsements issued by the Civil Status Directorate, and falsified registration copies to disburse funds from the Article 140 committee.
The commission added that the team seized more than 600 forged residency endorsements and registration copies addressed to municipal departments, banks, and the Pension Authority in the municipality directorate and the Civil Status Directorate’s computer system. The accused had provided the courts with forged registration copies to seize the rights of other people and approached the Martyrs Foundation, the National Retirement Authority, the Article 140 Committee, and the Social Welfare Foundation with forged documents. They also granted forged civil status IDs to living and deceased people and forged electronic visas for foreign countries by manipulating the barcode through the competent employee.
The values of the real estate and loans promoted through forged transactions amounted to more than four billion dinars, with the total number of forged documents seized exceeding 1,000 documents. The judge of the Diwaniyah Investigation Court decided to place a lien and prohibit the disposal of the real estate, stop the procedures for transferring ownership of the real estate, and detain the accused. Investigations into the case are continuing for the purpose of completing the investigation and taking legal action against violators.