Iraqi hospital employee held over COVID-19 shot embezzlement

Cairo: Iraqi authorities have arrested a state employee for allegedly embezzling hundreds of syringes used in treating COVID-19 patients, according to media reports.

Iraq’s state anti-corruption watchdog, the Commission of Integrity, said the suspect, an assistant pharmacist at a government-run hospital, had embezzled shots with an overall value of 178 million Iraqi dinars (121,965 dollars), the media said.

The use of those syringes is limited to the Health Ministry and pharmacies are banned from dealing in them.

Some 424 syringes and other medical supplies were seized by authorities in a raid on the suspect’s house, media reports said.

Iraq is the Arab country with the highest coronavirus infection rate, having registered so far a total of 1.2 million cases and 16,935 related fatalities.