Iraq’s Federal Commission of Integrity announced the arrest of four employees from municipal departments and the Rusafa Execution Directorate in Baghdad on suspicion of soliciting and receiving bribes in exchange for carrying out official duties.
According to the commission, a team from the Baghdad Investigation Directorate set up a carefully planned sting operation and caught the head of the encroachment division at Abu Ghraib Municipality receiving a bribe. The payment was allegedly intended to prevent the removal of an unauthorized encroachment on state-owned land.
In a separate operation, two employees at Sadr City Municipality were arrested while receiving money from a bakery owner in return for removing a concrete structure situated in front of his establishment.
The commission also reported the arrest of an employee at the Rusafa Execution Directorate for allegedly requesting payment to conduct an inspection associated with the eviction of a property.
The authority confirmed that the competent investigative courts ordered the detention of all four suspects under Resolution No. 160 of 1983. The decisions were issued by judges from the Rusafa Investigation Court handling integrity, money laundering and economic crime cases, and the Second Karkh Investigation Court.
