🔴 The Central Bank of Iraq's cash solutions have proven over the past years, and even to this moment, to be the fastest and most dangerous means of penetrating the Iraqi monetary system, squandering, smuggling, and stealing public Iraqi funds!
🔴 Since the launch of the “Dollar Auction” in 2004, which was considered the primary monetary solution to stimulate and sustain Iraq's economy, corruption hubs gradually formed around it, feeding off the auction dollars and smuggling them into fraudulent accounts. This has resulted in losses of tens or even hundreds of billions of public funds, incalculable in numbers!
🔴 Even after the auction was stopped and replaced by the “Currency Window” and then the “Platform” as a new monetary solution introduced by the Central Bank to comply with the tightening measures of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the fraudulent withdrawal of dollars continued through dozens of small banks and exchange companies, along with the continued loss of tens of billions of dollars for Iraq!
🔴 Even with the Central Bank offering solutions for transfers using new currencies like the Chinese Yuan, Indian Rupee, and UAE Dirham, this avenue was also exploited to smuggle Iraqi funds in innovative ways to fictitious companies in China and other countries through inflated import invoices!
🔴 As for the “Cash Payment” solutions in dollars for tourism and medical treatment launched by the Central Bank, this avenue was exploited in the worst possible ways to fraudulently withdraw dollars and smuggle them abroad!
🔴 Now we have reached the stage of “Electronic Payment via Cards”, which the Central Bank introduced as a new cash solution to reduce dollar demand and promote digital transactions. However, the truth is now emerging about how these cards have been used for fraudulent external withdrawals, resulting in the smuggling of massive amounts of Iraqi funds and causing card companies to suspend their use abroad, disrupting the interests of many Iraqis!
🔴 This long and eventful record of manipulation, fraud, smuggling, and loss of wealth raises many questions about the Central Bank of Iraq and casts doubt on its ability to manage Iraq’s monetary system efficiently and effectively!
🔴 In fact, many may even consider the Central Bank complicit, whether deliberately or negligently, in providing the conditions and direct or indirect reasons for these breaches. By offering cash solutions that are penetrable, unmonitored, and inadequately secured, the bank has attracted smuggling and money laundering gangs to exploit these solutions for smuggling Iraq’s funds to known and many unknown entities!
🔴 Therefore, it is not at all surprising that, given this long trajectory of errors, negligence, glaring failures, and missteps that have wasted funds, the U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury are now dealing with the Central Bank of Iraq and its banks with great strictness!
🔴 This is a clear message to the Central Bank: “If you do not safeguard and protect your country’s funds yourself, we will intervene and force you to protect them from theft.” This is a clear blemish on Iraq's monetary sovereignty and a major blow to the reputation of this venerable bank and the Iraqi banking system as a whole!
🔴 Despite all this, the situation continues as it is, with no real change. Those in power show no shame in the continued failure and breaches, nor any embarrassment about the ongoing intervention of the U.S. Federal Reserve in controlling the management of Iraq’s monetary system and its funds. And so, the ordeal and the loss of money continue, along with the deteriorating reputation both domestically and internationally!
The end 🌷
