On Tuesday, the Parliamentary Integrity Committee announced the launch of an inquiry into the case of providing dollars to passengers owing to allegations of corruption, while also threatening to levy taxes on residents who got dollars via the electronic platform but did not travel.
“The electronic platform for granting dollars to travelers has become a type of corruption, whether directly or indirectly,” committee member Ahmed Al-Rubaie told Shafaq News Agency, noting that “there are many parties involved, starting with the Central Bank, considering that the movement of funds originates from the bank.” Tourism organizations that accept passports and travel papers in order to purchase an airplane ticket or a travel visa, and financial institutions that offer money to persons who are not traveling.”
“We received many complaints from citizens who had travel tickets and visas but did not travel,” he continued. As a consequence, the currency was tampered with, and these people’s paperwork were removed from the passenger platform.”
According to Al-Rubaie, “the Parliamentary Integrity Committee sent official letters to the Central Bank and the Integrity Commission for the purpose of conducting transparent and high-level investigations.” This problem endangers residents who withdraw money in their names, and the taxes levied on citizens might amount to billions of dinars.”
Due to the Central Bank of Iraq’s failure to increase its share of the currency, Rafidain State Bank decided on Tuesday to postpone selling dollars to tourists in several of its Baghdad branches.
