Iraq's indicted former finance minister says he will find 'theft of century' culprits

Ali Allawi says he will clear his name as he speaks out about an arrest warrant against him over embezzlement of tax revenue

Iraq's former finance minister, Ali Allawi, has denied involvement in the theft of missing public money. AP

Iraq's former finance minister has pledged to find those responsible for taking $2.5 billion from Iraq’s General Commission for Taxes in the "theft of the century", after an arrest warrant was issued against him over embezzlement of tax revenue.

Ali Allawi stepped down last August and denied involvement in the theft of missing public money.

Last year, Iraqis reacted with shock when the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani announced that $2.5 billion had been plundered from Iraqi state funds between September 2021 and August 2022, while Mr Allawi was the finance minister.

Although investigations are continuing, reports appear to implicate senior ministers in the embezzlement of tax revenue. Mr Allawi, however, called the charges against him “outrageous”.

“I find these measures shocking and impugn my integrity and my years of service in the government of Iraq, and for the people of Iraq,” Mr Allawi said on Tuesday.

The former minister, who wrote several widely acclaimed books, said he does not accept these charges and will “fight to show that they are outrageous”.

Before taking office in Baghdad in 2020, Mr Allawi was known as a vocal critic of endemic corruption in Iraq.

“I will devote the rest of my time to uncovering the ramifications of the theft of the century,” he said.

He pledged to find “its planners, executors, accomplices and beneficiaries to those who have systematically covered up this crime and foisted an outrageous charge on a completely innocent party”.

In his resignation letter last August, he said how corruption in Iraq was even deeper than he and his allies had imagined.

“I was introduced to the shocking reality of how far the machinery of government had deteriorated in the past 15 years,” he said at the time.

“The state had been effectively captured by political parties and special-interest groups.”

Former prime minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi, who officially left office last October, defended his record on fighting corruption and said his government discovered the case, opened an investigation and took legal action.

Mr Allawi said: “In relation to the theft of the century in particular, I took a number of measures in October and November 2021, when indications that untoward activities were taking place in the tax authority, the General Commission for Taxes.

“In my resignation letter I had openly discussed my fears about the extent of corruption in the country and its threat as a state and the damage done to its effectiveness in providing security and prosperity for the people."

Iraq is ranked 157 out of 180 nations on Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index and is considered one of the most corrupt countries.