Erbil, Baghdad cooperate to recover convicted official in anti-corruption effort
Shafaq News/ On Saturday, the Federal Integrity Commission (CoI) announced the recovery of a convict who had unlawfully disbursed funds and advances, in violation of the law and current regulations. The recovery operation was conducted in cooperation with the judiciary and the Interior Ministries of both the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region.
CoI stated that its efforts in monitoring, investigation, and coordination with domestic and international authorities led to the recovery of Samir Younis Shukr from Turkish authorities. Shukr, a former official at the Kirkuk silo of the General Company for Grain Trade, had been implicated in crimes of public fund embezzlement and dereliction of duty.
The commission detailed that “while serving on the cheque disbursement committee at the Kirkuk silo, Shukr unlawfully disbursed funds and advances for a complainant's wheat marketing without their knowledge and written consent to an accused individual. Additionally, he distributed cheques meant for marketers to a person without authorization from the farmers to receive the cheques on their behalf.”
“The efforts and procedures of the commission's recovery department, which organized the case files and regularly followed up with the relevant authorities—including the Arab and International Police Directorate in the Ministry of Interior and the judicial bodies, particularly the Public Prosecution—resulted in the issuance of an international red notice and a search warrant against the convict. Subsequently, he was detained in Turkiye through coordination between the Arab and International Police Directorate and the Interpol office in Ankara.”
The commission praised the high-level cooperation and coordination between the federal Interior Ministry's coordination section in the Kurdistan Region and the local detention authority (General Asayish Directorate), starting from receiving the convict through the Ibrahim al-Khalil border crossing to escorting him to the competent court in Kirkuk.
The Kirkuk Criminal and Misdemeanor Courts had previously issued two in absentia sentences totaling eight years of imprisonment against Shukr, based on Articles 340 and 331 of the Penal Code No. 111 of 1969, after finding sufficient evidence of his involvement in crimes of public fund embezzlement and dereliction of duty.
