Iraq court hands former Kirkuk land official two prison sentences

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's Federal Integrity Commission announced that a court has issued two separate prison sentences against a former assistant director of the Land Registry Directorate in Kirkuk. The commission said the court found the defendant responsible for the disappearance of a property file registered in the name of the Kirkuk Municipality and for carrying out a fraudulent sale to two citizens based on a forged title deed. In its statement, the commission said the defendant used the authority granted to him for personal gain and deliberately caused financial harm to state resources. The ruling was issued after the court examined the evidence in the case file and reached full conviction, citing Article 340 of the Penal Code along with Articles 47, 48 and 49 on participation, as well as Article 264/1 of the same law. The commission added that on July 10 it had also disclosed a separate heavy prison sentence against the same defendant for approving the sale of a Kirkuk Municipality property and tampering with its title deed number. No further details on the defendant or the cases were immediately available.