Money laundering in Iraq: the concepts and secrets

February 5, 2017

Transparency International: Iraq among the most corrupt in the world six countries ..

Money laundering :

It is still the subject of money laundering (Money laundering) hot on the world stage themes, which attract governments and security agencies interesting in general, financial institutions, and banking in particular, and recounted the media a day; what constitutes a serious threat to global peace and security, according to the statistics Fund international Monetary the size of money laundering trade between $ 950 billion and $ 1.5 trillion, a figure guarantor itself to put the global economy at a critical place. (1)

To combat money laundering, Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) formed an international financial committee of 26 member states, including the Group of Seven major industrialized nations, as well as the European Commission, and worked on scheduling countries where suspicious money laundering operations are in progress.

Defines money laundering (money laundering) economically as: "the transfer of funds resulting from the practice of illegal activities to funds enjoy a proper legal appearance, especially in terms of their sources."

Known legally as "accepting deposits or funds derived from illegal act or a criminal, and hide the source, or covered up, or help a person whose principal actor or partner in that work to evade the legal consequences to be done."

The most important sources of laundered money:

Studies indicate that 70% of the money laundered size comes from the drug trade, and the rest from other activities such as arms trade and the White mercury and counterfeiting, embezzlement, theft, extortion, and bribery of government, organized crime and tax evasion.

New York is the world's largest center for money laundering, but London is a strong competitor, and is due to increase the popularity of London because of the complexity of the system and the ability to conduct large transactions related to money laundering.

The United Nations estimates have indicated that the dirty money that are exposed to the process of washing in the world has become a very large size, so as to exceed international trade Petroleum size, it comes in second place for the size of the international arms trade. (2)

And pass the money laundering operations in practice several stages, namely:

* Replacement phase: any aggregation of large quantities of liquid money (Cash Money) and eschews money launderers at this stage, the use of instruments or credit cards and other means of payment by documents, This is the most difficult stage in the other stages, to the possibility of exposure is money, but that once this acceptance money into the banking system Kaadaat cash or checks, it becomes easy to complete the other phases.

* Coverage Layering stage: It is less serious than the first phase, in which is inserted into the dirty money in the banking system and institutions working or associated with it, where it is to hide the relationship of these funds its sources of illegal, any original sources.

* Consolidation phase Integration: This is the last stage, which is the integration of illicit funds in various financial and economic processes, and the movement of funds from one bank to another or moved out of state.

There are several other factors working to encourage such illegal operations in the Arab world, as it provides the Arab banking system, which depends banking confidentiality fertile ground for mafia trying to exploit such confidential to carry out money laundering operations, as an obstacle to the control of that money, dealing heavy currencies foreign instead of the national currency in bank accounts and operations of buying and selling, and the conversion of all currencies to and from within those countries unconditionally, frequent transfers from living abroad for example in Lebanon are converted more than $ 6 billion annually, according to data and statistics, and doctoring instruments more than once, so that makes it difficult to return to the starting point.

Money laundering operation in Iraq:

After the occupation in 2003 and Iraq witnessed the absence of government and all its institutions supervision, and his successor, the destruction of infrastructure and the exposure of the Iraqi market, Iraq has become a favorable environment for the occurrence of the crimes on the one hand and money laundering on the other hand.

And created the internal environment of the atmosphere after 2003 and the absence of a state full apparatus and its institutions to the birth of this phenomenon clearly; and the absence of the rule of law and the regulatory bodies and the policy of dumping, and the black market, and the adoption of an open market policy with global markets, including new and shoddy goods, as well as the opening of borders with the world unconditionally supported by the ease of the circulation of funds and convert them to the outside and the weakness of the productive sectors to provide goods and services.

He stopped several economic activities either because of vandalism or destruction or raw materials or interruption of the power supply.

And lack of political and economic instability, lawlessness and a lack of stable and clearly defined to work out economic policies, and the prevalence of contraband trade and commodities uncensored and rising crime rates of all kinds.

It responded to the internal components of the environment with the external components of the environment to create a favorable environment; and encourage the growth of the phenomenon of money laundering in Iraq, where the process of opening-up policies on the global economy after the exposure of the Iraqi market led to the formation of fertile land.

Iraq became a safe haven for the crime of money laundering by the mafia, as well as new markets, which created the world in the shadow of globalization and has no geographical location can be controlled and the increasing volume of economic crime in the world, and the announcement of some countries accepting illegal money and provide facilities in return for high interest rates enable access to high profitability without supervision and legal accountability.

The money from the most serious financial crimes laundering due to direct repercussions on aspects, economic, political, moral and intellectual at the level of individuals, society and institutions, one of the economic problems more complex; not of Nha create a state of imbalance and economic stability, which is the basic foundation for achieving prosperity and development and the development of society.

The process of money laundering in Iraq is complicated in terms of stages where money enters the high plains without going through stages, as a result of the deteriorating security situation in Iraq and the lack of government regulatory efficiency; which makes the Iraqi economy vulnerable to sabotage.

Thousands have been recorded cases of some regulators, especially in Iraq's central and southern provinces where the people exercise the money-laundering easily activities; and helping them so the development in the financial and banking sector, which accelerated to circumvent operations, in addition to the automated system to transfer funds, which facilitated the completion of suspicious transactions money laundering, and the use of the internet has led the other to expand circumvent operations through the use of pre-money laundering gangs to take advantage of the speed flash of cash transfers across the world, or between accounts in a single state, it shows that 25% of e-mails sent between banks and people do not include detailed information about these transfers, helped by the exceptional circumstance that Iraq is going through at the escalation of terrorist operations with the support of other countries.

Illegal money sources in Iraq.

There are many sources that are in the pot of money is legitimate and most important:

* Bank robberies and banks after the occupation of Iraq, which represents a high proportion in the formation of a pot of money laundering in Iraq.

* Funds derived from the theft and smuggling of precious relics, and sold in global markets

* Oil and its derivatives smuggling, and smuggling of machinery, plant and equipment and factories abroad, industrial and commercial fraud after the exposure of the Iraqi market and the absence of the role of the state and its institutions, and gangs of robberies, kidnappings, and allocated funds do not usually reconstruction started moving toward the establishment of projects and providing fake services.

* Drug trafficking and bribery and administrative corruption, and profiteering from public office and the money that was owed by finance officials in some state institutions during the recent war, .oacharkat phantom.

It highlighted the implications of this phenomenon economically, socially and politically:

1. Times the national income through depletion of capital (foreign exchange) that has been stolen from banks and convert them to invest in outside diameter, and the smuggling of machinery, plant and equipment and factories out of Iraq, and sell them at low prices and represents capital constant, which led to the suspension of industrial projects making the country lose its production capacity, which is already low, and the weakness of the productive sectors due to poor savings and investment.

2. Capital flight abroad, which led to an imbalance between savings and consumption, making binding external switching state as increased indebtedness.

3. Monetary instability (exchange rate) and a fear of future volatility, which means that individuals buy foreign currencies and saved inside Iraq and outside it.

4. Poor income distribution and concentration, however, a small group have negatively impacted the community.

5. Introduction of counterfeit goods to the Iraqi market has led to the elimination of the national industry and according to the principle of the Ibn Khaldun: (Item shoddy expel good commodity (and contributed to the political, economic and social chaos

6. Drain the national economy for the benefit of overseas economies and deductions of the national income, which led to the penetration of organized economic crime is widely and rapidly in a legitimate business, and the difficulty of detecting and tracking laundered money; as a result of technological development.

7. control of the domestic market has become, however, a small group of delusional entrepreneurs; which has a negative impact on the balance of payments and trade balance in the state and the spread of unemployment and the disruption of the balance of the social structure and increasing the problem of poverty and low living standards of the majority of the Iraqi people.

8. money laundering operations contributed to the spread of corruption and social crimes and administrative corruption, bribery and other, lower living standards of citizens through the provision of goods and services adulterated.

Finance Committee in the Iraqi parliament and issued a report which confirmed what was said by Transparency International that Iraq is among the most advanced of the six countries corrupt in the world hub.

The Committee also emphasized in its report the existence of a large financial corruption in the tenure of prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, and symbols of this corruption, are banks, banks, companies, and personalities falsified documents to evade huge sums of money around several countries.

The Commission explained the reasons why Iraq among the most corrupt in the world six countries, as published official documents of the Organization of smuggling billions of dollars, took place through the auction of foreign currency for a number of banks and financial companies sell between 2006 and 2014 when Nuri al-Maliki as prime minister.

Chairman of the Integrity Commission, former Judge Rahim says in 08/09/2015: There are reports of financial control in 2010, about the corruption of money laundering in Iraq, but political influence authoritarian to corrupt is not allowed to pursue the truth to those who tamper with state funds, and this explains the desire of al-Maliki slide Dr. Sinan Shabibi from the Iraqi Central Bank management and the seizure of wealth or the enormous treasure inside this institution; to control the Iraqi currency, and that is what happened later, after the removal of Alshabibi by the Central Bank of Iraq as manipulating the exchange rate and stressed increased this speech the President of the parliamentary Finance Committee in the Iraqi parliament in 2013, Dr. Ahmad Chalabi, because he was talking about the manipulation of exchange rates of the Central Bank of Iraq and the crisis of the low level of the Iraqi dinar and the rise of the dollar, as a result of political party control Iraq's central bank at the exchange rate difference, which earned her a profit of billions of dollars. (3)

He said Ugaili, he gathered information about a person about to Jordan $ 1.5 million to buy a property and show that this person close to the prime minister, and was the Central Bank of Jordan doubt transfer the amount; as Jordan is one of the developed countries to combat money laundering. (4)

It would help in money laundering operations in Iraq, the lack of transparency in the work of the Iraqi Central Bank and the scarcity of information pertaining to foreign remittances Iraqi funds reported within the Iraqi Central Bank official institutions, which is still insisting on the adoption of banking secrecy, which in fact does not help in the face of money laundering crimes .

Ugaili said that since 2004, did not provide anti-money one crime for investigation Laundering Office, noted that $ 551 billion in oil revenues did not enter the state treasury, but fled abroad, but the funds were not smuggling carried out by the banks only.

And it confirms the same source that the bags were filled with billions of dollars, an Iraqi money stolen and carry the aircraft or by road also to Syria and Lebanon and graduated to Iran and used in many purposes, and many of the Iraqi funds in fact, Iran has helped to overcome its economic crisis.

The following table shows the wasted money and smuggled out of Iraq (b billions of dollars)



Ohz means that the CBI was involved and possibly subject to the pressures and instructions from political parties, speaks Ugaili about the corruption of some in the Iraqi judiciary, he says that in 2500 the issue of money laundering left idle Iraqi judge, Vkovi on that money and leave a six-month stint in Lebanon, according to the source.

And economist Humam Shamaa said the smuggled money was resorted to safe havens outside Iraq and the intervention of banking network to become clean after it was dirty, pointing out that the Central Bank of Iraq is that it legitimizes dirty money laundering.

It is money laundering routes, buy some of the banks of the daily auction of the Central Bank by providing forged documents to prove that the party that buys the dollar imported goods, services or paid for out of funds to meet certain things, banks conducting extensive funds smuggling, including Huda Bank

And reached Huda bank profits from the currency auction of 18 billion dinars during only four months in 2015, in return for foreign remittances were estimated at $ 1.8 billion.

It revealed documents, which published links Centre for Research and Strategic Studies, and the long, corruption within the banks and front companies files, do Huda bank to convert 163 to the dollar to abroad for dozens of local companies process. According to the documents, which included communications of the Central Bank, 85 of these operations took place without coupes evading these companies.

The central bank has expressed doubts the safety of these transfers to the magnitude of the amounts and the volume of goods imported by companies collaborating with the Bank of Huda 163 conversion process conducted by the Bank of Huda within 6 months 85 of them without statements. (5)

There had even been in Iraq, trade remittances mean there who has Money does not import value of goods but are sold at a higher price and there are parties or intermediaries are Bmassarv buy these remittances at exorbitant prices check to a vendor hawala profit and achieve greater profits for banks that buy money orders.

Between Chandler that between 2009 and 2011 remained the fiscal surplus in Iraq steady, despite the existence of 83 billion dollars, is representing the surplus in the balance of trade the difference between imports and exports, Iraq has not added to the international reserves of Iraq and left the international reserves of Iraq stable until 2013, which indicates that the this surplus was transferred abroad under various pretexts and under various road and under the eye and control of the central bank which is supervised by the cabinet directly at the time.

After a short time of the publication of official documents of the Finance Committee in Parliament show organized smuggling of billions of dollars out of the country, the central bank has taken action came against the backdrop of the smell of corruption that Ozkmt noses in Iraq was said to have taken place through auctions in violation of the regulations for a number of banks and financial companies in the period since 2006 until 2014.

And the Iraqi Central Bank began to take a series of legal actions against banks and customers and described violators instructions for auction sale of foreign currency during the past years Among those prosecution procedures and the imposition of heavy fines, and stated that the audit teams of the bank is currently working on an application in coordination with the competent judicial institutions , He pointed directly to the government is primarily responsible, and that the muggers remit funds under the protection of the responsibility of the Iraqi government to other countries, any safe haven in order to banking network interference and then become a money-called clean money, and paying them high commissions, without hesitation because they got money cheaply after that was dirty money came from illegal sources, the world does not accept dirty money, therefore it is converted via the central bank, which he performed the function of legitimizing theft and money laundering for the benefit of thieves who looted the Iraq money and wealth.

Finance Committee revealed the value of the corruption of currency laundering, which has cost the country a loss of $ 360 billion during the period between 2006 and 2014, or about 4 billion per month, and it has been confirmed one way or another TI inclusion Iraq among the most corrupt in the world six countries, There are modern rolling on different ascend that former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, is still in control of events from behind the scenes, despite his departure from office before the years.

Finally, the political influence of the strong points of the corrupt in Iraq is difficult to prosecute corrupt, and there is no intention to restore Iraq's money stolen, not the actual ability to do so because Iraq is the stage of the weakness of the political point of both internal and external level, and its relations with the International weak internationally and does not have the ability to simulate the international public opinion so that there would be pressure from states that went to funds.

Add to that his relationship with the neighboring countries are not friendly and not based on transparency in full, and there is accurate information to the sources that went to the money, as the thieves when they remit money to a country quickly turn them into other countries, even though it cost them commissions may be huge, but funds obtained at a bargain price at a price.

This is reflected on the Iraqi economy and its citizens, who still suffer hunger and deprivation where he became injustice include all the components of the people, and Iraq today live fact financial crisis, money is scarce industry development parked salaries have become worried or fear of the future, the low price of oil, which is of concern, and the crisis Indeed economic, political and social system in Iraq, which was built on the basis of sectarian quotas and sectarian division and this leads to the destruction of the state and the destruction of democracy and the experience, and even the country's infrastructure and the Iraqi citizen.

The central bank is still ongoing currency auction, which is the basis of corruption, financial aid laundering and smuggling in the country, it added to the weakness of the legal proceedings and the prosecution of corrupt, who emptied the state treasury.

According to the central bank's website that the quantity sold to banks from the date 2/1/2017 until the date of 02.02.2017 (3,910,845,189) billion dollars, and cash sales price (1190) dinars per states (6)

As frightening waste money states and everyone knows that money did not go to the Import and economic development, and as a result we get to that money laundering is a crime vehicle of several crimes, has established Iraq (Iraqi funds Redemption Fund). Under Law No. 9 for the year 2012, this fund regulates the work of the Economic and Financial Department prosecutions and recovery of funds and deposits.

It did not hold Recovery Fund, which was established in 2012 only 9 meetings in spite of the existence of a financial allocations in the federal budget up to 20 billion dinars annually. The fund was unable to recover any amounts remember. (7)

The administration of the Finance Committee and the integrity of the Iraqi judiciary and the fund to recover funds looted Iraq, and the preservation of the sovereignty of the Iraqi state to maintain the state treasury and the need to work on a special law to combat money laundering phenomenon in Iraq.
And tighten special procedures to open accounts and facilitate
the task of private detectives to verify the crime of money laundering to enable views investigation to trace the money generated by illegal activities, with particular all the complex banking care or massive unusual, especially those relating to the large sums of deposits operations or withdrawals, and the application strict laws and regulations relating to banking work and effective cooperation between the banks and with law enforcement authorities, and banks must establish and develop internal control procedures; in order to foil related to money laundering and prevention of operations, such as the appointment of a coordinator at the level of the administration, with finding a job regulator to check all procedures related to combat money laundering operations. (8)

Khalil shatha

Unit Economic Studies

links Center for Research and Economic Studies


Sources:
(1) Https://www.alarabiya.net/views/2010/11/16/126299.htm
(2) https://www.iraq2020.org / print_top .php? = 52 & Id_top p = topics & parm = Id_top
(3) the island
(4) https://ar.ammannet.net/news/237686
(5). https://almadapaper.net
(6) https://cbi.iq/index.php?pid=CurrencyAuctions&lang=a
(7) https://www.rudaw.net/arabic/middleeast/iraq/22022016
. (8) Dr. Jameel Khalaf Balm, money laundering phenomenon in Iraq, its concept and its effects and its relationship with commercial and industrial fraud


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