Iraq sentences three MPs to seven years for illicit enrichment

Dubai: An Iraqi anti corruption court has sentenced three members of parliament to seven years in prison in separate illicit enrichment cases and ordered them to repay millions of dollars in unexplained wealth, according to the Federal Commission of Integrity.

Those sentenced include two female MPs, Alia Nassif Jassim and Ashwaq Salem Hassan, and one male MP, Bahaa Al Din Nour Mohammed Hussein Al Nouri. The rulings also imposed fines equal to the value of the illicit gains and upheld freezes on their movable and immovable assets.

Nassif was ordered to repay more than 14.2 billion Iraqi dinars and $12.4 million after the court found the sums constituted illicit enrichment. An equivalent fine brought the total amount she was ordered to pay to more than 61 billion dinars, the commission said.

The court also sentenced Nassif to three years in prison in a separate case for concealing information on her financial disclosure form, but ruled that the harsher seven-year sentence would apply.

Ashwaq Salem Hassan was ordered to repay about 2.1 billion dinars and $2.9 million in illicit gains, in addition to an equivalent fine, bringing the combined amount to nearly 11.95 billion dinars. She also received a three-year sentence for concealing information in her financial disclosure, with the seven-year term taking precedence.

Al Nouri was sentenced separately on September 16 and ordered to repay about 5.9 billion dinars and nearly $11 million, as well as an equivalent fine. He also received a three year sentence for concealing information in his financial disclosure, with the court applying the heavier seven-year penalty.

The Federal Commission of Integrity said the sentences were issued under Article 19 of Iraq's amended Commission of Integrity and Illicit Gains Law. The rulings also preserve the commission's right to seek compensation once the judgments become final.