One of the main convicts in Iraq’s “heist of the century”, in which billions of dollars were stolen from the state, has been pardoned because of recently approved amendments to the country’s Amnesty Law, a document shows.
Haitham Al Jubouri, a former politician, was sentenced to three years in jail in November for his role in plundering billions of dollars from an account held by Iraq's Finance Ministry, a crime that was discovered in late 2022. He was sentenced in absentia and remains at large.
In the document, which surfaced on Tuesday on social media, the Chief Judge of the Central Anti-corruption Criminal Court, Khalid Saddam, requests that the court informs parliament and the cabinet that it is “permanently suspending all legal proceedings” against Al Jubouri.
In his request, dated February 19, Judge Saddam stated that the convict is “covered” by the Amnesty Law, which was amended in January. The latest amendments could lead to pardons for thousands of prisoners, even those convicted of attacks on US soldiers and people who fought for ISIS.
Officials at the Iraq Supreme Judiciary Council were not immediately available to comment on the authenticity of the document. However, a source close to the Judiciary Council confirmed it. The case, which has captivated the public for two years, concerned about $2.5 billion being taken from Iraq's General Commission for Taxes, a department of the Ministry of Finance.
The money was fraudulently paid to five companies by the commission using 247 cheques between September 2021 and August 2022. The funds were taken from the commission's account at the state-run Rafidain Bank, a government investigation found.
It was deposited by trading companies and people as a guarantee to pay taxes after finishing projects commissioned by the government or importing goods. Those who deposited the money could later apply to withdraw what was left, after tax was deducted.
Shortly after the case was announced in October 2022 by Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, who was Iraq’s acting finance minister and oil minister, the mastermind of the heist, businessman Noor Zuhair Jassim, was arrested at Baghdad International Airport as he attempted to leave the country on a private jet.
He later admitted to stealing 1.618 trillion Iraqi dinars ($1.23 billion) and returned 182 billion dinars. He was released on bail after an agreement was reached with the court to return the full amount. However, he later left Iraq and remains at large.
Mr Jassim was sentenced to 10 years in November, and the court also sentenced Judge Raid Juhi, who presided over Saddam Hussein's trial, and was a director of former prime minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi's office, to six years in prison. Ten more employees were sentenced to six years, including a former general director of the General Commission for Taxes, and his deputy.
The court also ordered the confiscation of assets belonging to Mr Jassim, Mr Juhi and Mr Al Jubouri, and was in the process of asking Interpol to help track down the three men. It is still unclear if others will be pardoned.
Also on Tuesday, the Federal Integrity Commission announced that Iraqi courts had convicted 318 people of corruption-related charges in January. In a statement on its anti-corruption efforts in January, the Commission also said that 32 juridical arrest warrants and summoning orders had been issued against high-ranking officials. Twenty suspects have been arrested, it added.
Corruption has been rife in Iraq under successive governments elected after the US-led invasion of 2003, which toppled the dictator Saddam Hussein. Billions of dollars given to the government for reconstruction were misused by authorities.
In 2007, a former head of the Integrity Commission, Radhi Hamza Al Radhi, told the US Congress after fleeing Iraq that $18 billion was missing. The figure may be as high as $320 billion, according to Iraq’s Parliamentary Transparency Commission.
Iraq is considered one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It ranked 140 out of 180 nations on Transparency International’s 2024 corruption index.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
South and West: From a Notebook
Joan Didion
Fourth Estate
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
