Scandal (ONA Oil) road map to uncover corrupt senior in Iraq

04/04/2016


BAGHDAD / JD / .. according to the indicators and data, the scandal Leona Oil Company Energy IMPLIED corrupt deals under the oil contracts cover included Iraqi officials, most notably Hussain al-Shahristani, who was deputy prime minister for energy affairs in the previous government and minister of oil in the government that preceded it, may be roadmap to detect corrupt senior in Iraq.

The joint report showed last week between Fairfax Media Australian newspaper Huffington Post was based on hundreds of thousands of e-mails relationship between Leona Oil Energy Corporation and a number of international oil companies and the corrupt practices, such as allegations of taking bribes from countries including Iraq.

And suffering Iraq, which relies on oil exports for most of its revenues from corruption and mismanagement for many years and was ranked No. 161 among the 168 countries in the annual report of Transparency International on corruption for 2015.

Corruption is still swallows the government's resources as it struggles to cope with higher expenses due to the cost of the war on the organization of the Islamic state, which took over a third of Iraqi territory in the north and west in 2014.

The report said Iraqi officials several names, including former oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani, the report said that by the millions of dollars in bribes to influence the granting oil contracts.

He denied al-Shahristani is currently Minister of Higher Education of the outgoing charges. He said on Saturday he was not aware of any attempt to bribe officials from the Ministry of Oil during the period in which the ministry took over and he has not contacted anyone from Leona Oil Company.

Shahristani told reporters: "I did not meet or know or contact either by telephone or e-mails does not directly or through an intermediary does not in any way not during this period in question between 2010 and 2012 and not before or after any one of these people."

He said, adding that he heard for the first time all these names of the report.

He urged al-Shahristani, a leader of the ruling Iraqi National Coalition Government to investigate with both named in the report, one of them called the Huffington Post newspaper to hand over documents which they were based.

"The law requires those who have any information that (corruption) that detects it."

And announced that the Government of the Principality of Monaco, to open an investigation on corruption charges, which affected the company (ONA Oil) at the request of the Serious Fraud Office in Britain, as has denied the company (ONA Oil) those "allegations" categorically, Foundation (Fairfax Australian) confirmed that (ONA Oil ) "it has not been able to challenge the credibility of the documents demanded erase them."

The Government of the Principality of Monaco said in a statement that "the past few days have seen questioning several officials in the company (ONA Oil), which is based in the emirate-based, with a search and inspection of their homes and places of business, after receiving urgent requests from the Serious Fraud Office in Britain to do so."

The statement added that "inspections and conduct interviews on major corruption scandal implicated by several foreign companies active in the oil sector, took place in the presence of British officials," stressing that "British officials will use the evidence as part of their investigation." / End / 22 /


http://dananernews.com/News_Details.php?ID=7132