Iraqi anti-corruption body arrests local official in Kirkuk bribery sting

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity said a local official was caught red-handed in Kirkuk while soliciting bribes from citizens and contractors. The commission said its Kirkuk Investigation Office formed a working team after receiving information that the head of the Operations Department at the Water Resources Directorate had been collecting payments from applicants and investors. Following a court order from the judge handling corruption cases in Kirkuk, investigators carried out an operation and arrested the official while he was receiving money in exchange for issuing a no-conflict letter for a closed-system fish farming investment project, the commission said. Documents and correspondence related to the project were also seized during the operation. The commission said procedures were carried out under the provisions of Decision No. 1983/160, with a formal record prepared and the suspect and evidence presented before the competent investigative judge. Legal proceedings are ongoing, according to the statement.