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An Iraqi anti-corruption court has sentenced the former director general of a state electricity distribution firm to seven years in prison for illicit enrichment, ordering him to forfeit nearly $20 million in restitution and fines as part of a sweeping crackdown on graft in the country’s power sector.
The official, Alaa Samir Rashid Shukr Al-Jubouri, who headed the state-owned General Company of Electricity Distribution (Middle Region), was convicted by Iraq’s Central Criminal Court for Combating Corruption. According to the country’s Integrity Commission, Rashid amassed unexplained wealth exceeding 5.5 billion Iraqi dinars (about $4.2 million) along with an additional $5.5 million in U.S. currency.
The court ordered Rashid to return the illicit gains and levied an equivalent fine, bringing his total financial liability to approximately $19.4 million. Judges also upheld a freeze on his movable and immovable assets, paving the way for seizure.
Rashid’s prosecution followed an internal Ministry of Electricity audit in June that reviewed company contracting procedures from 2022 to 2025. Auditors uncovered 127 fraudulent procurement transactions valued at roughly $4.5 million. Citing "dangerous" misconduct that endangered the public interest, ministry officials stripped Rashid of his post on June 20. Two days later, judicial authorities froze his real estate holdings in Fallujah, leading to his arrest shortly thereafter.
Taha Al-Difai, chairman of the Iraqi Parliament’s Integrity Committee, told OCCRP that the case centers on wealth whose legitimate origin Rashid failed to demonstrate. Al-Difai warned that under Iraqi law, judicial asset recovery can extend to property transferred to officials' children and family members if tied to illicit enrichment.
Al-Difai added that graft in Iraq’s electricity sector is not isolated to distribution, noting that ongoing investigations and previous convictions have targeted systemic corruption across power generation, transmission, and regional government projects.
The ruling comes weeks after the same company’s financial director was sentenced to three years in prison on separate illicit enrichment charges.
Neither Rashid nor the Ministry of Electricity responded to requests for comment.
