ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq’s Federal Integrity Commission said Monday it arrested several suspects accused of corruption in the provinces of Dhi Qar and Nineveh, coming as Iraq grapples to combat the bribery of authorities and enhance transparency.

The commission said one of its teams in Dhi Qar caught a suspect while receiving a bribe in exchange for completing a property allocation transaction in the Al-Jazeera district, in cooperation with employees of the Nasiriyah municipality.

Another suspect, working in the provincial office, was arrested carrying a bag that contained real estate documents, property record copies, and a file related to a car wash station project.

In Nineveh, investigators uncovered violations in cleaning contracts signed by the provincial health department in 2022. The contracts, according to the commission, violated federal budget implementation rules and government contract regulations set in 2014.

The commission said official reports were filed under Iraqi anti-corruption laws, and the suspects, along with the seized materials, were referred to the investigative courts in Dhi Qar and Nineveh for legal action.

On September 15, Iraq’s Interior Ministry announced the sentencing of a Baghdad traffic officer to two years in prison after a video showed him taking a small bribe from can collectors.

The case, which went viral online, highlighted public frustration with corruption in state institutions. A police commissioner present at the scene received six months in prison for failing to report the violation.

Despite government efforts to clamp down on corruption and bribery, Iraq ranked 140 out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index.