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IRAQ
Interpol flagged
FRAUD TYPES
Investment scams, telecom fraud, identity fraud
KEY FACTS
Part of MENA cybercrime growth. Limited enforcement capacity. Geopolitical instability.
REPORT FRAUD IN IRAQ1▸
No agency for Iraq in our directory yet.
See all countries we cover ▸
Search the Report Fraud directory.
BORN HERE▸
Nobody in our case files was born in Iraq yet.
OPERATED HERE▸
Nobody in our case files is documented as operating from Iraq yet.
KNOWN FOR▸
THE PICTURE▸
Iraq's largest documented frauds involve the theft of public money through the banking system. In the 2021–2022 'heist of the century', 247 cheques drained 3.7 trillion dinars (~$2.5bn) of tax deposits from the General Tax Authority's account at Rafidain Bank (The National, 2024). Businessman Nour Zuhair Jassim and senior officials were sentenced in absentia in November 2024. In 2023–2024 the US cut 14 and then 8 more Iraqi banks off from the central bank's dollar auction over money laundering and dollar smuggling to Iran. In 2024 FinCEN named Al-Huda Bank a primary money-laundering concern (FinCEN, 2024). FATF added Iraq to its grey list in June 2026.
TOP FRAUDSTERS FROM HERE3▸
Nour Zuhair Jassim CONVICTEDREPORT PENDING
~$2.5bn (IQD 3.7tn stolen); ~$125M returned · 2021–2022
Businessman who ran the scheme in which fake cheques drained the tax authority's deposits; released on bail in 2022 after returning part of the money.
SOURCE: The National, 25 Nov 2024
Raed Jouhi CONVICTEDREPORT PENDING
~$2.5bn (overall scheme) · 2021–2022
Former director of the prime minister's office, sentenced in absentia in the tax-deposit theft.
SOURCE: The National, 25 Nov 2024
Haitham al-Jubouri CONVICTEDREPORT PENDING
~$2.5bn (overall scheme) · 2021–2022
Former MP and head of parliament's finance committee, sentenced in absentia in the same case.
SOURCE: The National, 25 Nov 2024
FRAUD BY CATEGORY▸
No official body here publishes a breakdown of fraud by type, so we show none rather than guess.
KEY NUMBERS▸
~$2.5bn Stolen in the 2021–2022 tax-deposit 'heist of the century' (The National, Nov 2024)
22 Iraqi banks barred from the dollar auction (14 in Jul 2023, 8 in Feb 2024) (Al Jazeera / The New Arab, 2023–2024)
Aug 2024 FinCEN Section 311 final rule cutting Al-Huda Bank off from the US system (FinCEN, Jul 2024)
Jun 2026 Iraq added to the FATF grey list (FATF plenary outcomes, 19 Jun 2026)
WHO FIGHTS IT▸
Federal Commission of Integrity and Karkh/Rusafa criminal courts. Many top defendants have been convicted in absentia.
Central Bank of Iraq with the US Treasury and New York Fed: dollar-auction restrictions (2023–2024) and the FinCEN 311 action against Al-Huda Bank (2024).
Took part in INTERPOL Operation Ramz (Oct 2025 – Feb 2026).
SOURCES▸
The National, 25 Nov 2024 and 6 Dec 2024
Iraq Business News, 28 Nov 2024
FinCEN / Federal Register, 3 Jul 2024
Al Jazeera, 27 Jul 2023
The New Arab, Feb 2024
FATF, Jun 2026
Case lists and figures compiled September 2026 from court records, regulators and major press; statuses change. Series reports above are fact-checked case files.