Kurdistan to auction opposition figure’s holdings in debt recovery
Shafaq News – Erbil
On Sunday, the Kurdistan Region’s Finance Ministry initiated the sale of 60 properties—including land, hotels, cafés, and tourist cabins—owned by companies linked to opposition leader Shaswar Abdulwahid.
Approved by Kurdish courts, the measure seeks to recover nearly 92 billion Iraqi dinars (about $70M) in unpaid debts owed by Abdulwahid’s company, Nalia, with the General Directorate of Commercial Banks assigned to oversee the auction process
Abdulwahid, head of the New Generation Movement (al-Jeel al-Jadeed-NGM) and proprietor of the Cave Land amusement park in al-Sulaymaniyah, was arrested on August 12 during a security operation at the German Village complex. A criminal court had previously convicted him in absentia, issuing a six-month prison sentence and ordering the payment of 6M IQD ($4.5K) in legal fees. The hearing was later postponed from August 21 to August 28, with the court denying his release on bail.
Since 2020, Abdulwahid has faced allegations of embezzling nearly 70B IQD (about $53M) from investors in the Cave Land project. Repeated investor protests have underscored accusations of misappropriation.
