Iraqi court jails former electricity official, orders asset seizure

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court has sentenced a former financial affairs director of the Central Electricity Distribution Company to three years in prison and ordered the seizure of his assets. The court ruled that Mahmud Ali al-Isawi, also identified in case records as Mahmud Abdullah Muhammad Farhan, must serve three years of hard imprisonment and pay a fine of 1.170 billion Iraqi dinars, along with an additional penalty of $203,000 corresponding to the illicit gains identified in the case. The ruling also authorizes the confiscation of property linked to the defendant, including a real estate asset registered in his wife's name valued at 750 million dinars and shares in an apartment in Karada Mariam valued at 350 million dinars once the judgment becomes final. The court further ordered the seizure of several vehicles listed in the case file. According to the case file, the seized items are to be handed over to the Federal Integrity Commission for processing in line with the law after the ruling takes effect. Al-Isawi had been detained in June by security forces over corruption and financial irregularities. No further details were immediately available on whether the defendant intends to appeal the verdict.