Iraq arrests five tax officials in Diyala over 2 billion dinar revenue loss

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's Federal Integrity Commission said five tax office employees in Diyala province have been detained as part of a corruption investigation into roughly 2 billion Iraqi dinars in uncollected revenue. The commission said the employees failed to collect fees from a livestock market and produce wholesale market and did not collect income tax from certain taxpayers, causing damage to public funds. Following the investigation, some taxpayers paid 703,403,000 dinars to the state treasury. The commission also placed seizure orders on the movable and immovable assets of eight taxpayers. The Diyala investigation office said the five tax assessors were apprehended after inspections and audits by the judicial oversight team. The commission said the employees caused heavy financial damage to the Tax Authority's interests. A judge at the competent court in Baghdad's Karkh district ordered the detention of the five employees under Article 341 of the Iraqi Penal Code.