A prominent economic official in the Iraqi government, who preferred to remain anonymous, said in an interview with Al-Monitor that out of the 33 private Iraqi banks operating in the country, 29 were under investigation on charges of corruption and money laundering.
According to an article published Oct. 16 and based on the report issued by Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen, money laundering through the Central Bank of Iraq has resulted in the loss of over $100 billion in the past 10 years, most of which was transferred into banks in Dubai and Beirut.