ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s integrity commission on Sunday announced that detained electricity ministry undersecretary Khalid Ghazai Attiya had been sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay 37 billion dinars (~$24.3 million) on charges of illicit enrichment.

In a statement, the commission announced Attiya’s verdict, sentencing him to “seven years in prison for the crime of illicit enrichment.”

The body added that Attiya is required to return the value of the illicit gains, alongside paying an additional fine “of an equal amount,” with the returned amount and fine totaling 36.8 billion dinars (around $24.3 million).

“The court ordered the enforcement of the most severe penalty and upheld the seizure of his movable and immovable assets,” the statement read.

The undersecretary was detained in August, amid a crackdown on corruption suspects by the Iraqi government under Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

On August 16, Iraqi authorities seized cash totaling nearly $7 million and seven gold bars at his residence two days following his arrest.

The anti-graft crackdown started in late June with a sweeping raid of Baghdad’s Green Zone, where much of the Iraqi government’s administrative nerve is concentrated. The raid saw the arrest of several high-ranking Iraqi officials.

Attiya’s official job title is “senior chief engineer,” and he has held multiple high-ranking positions within the Iraqi electricity ministry since his appointment in 1998.

In addition to his role as undersecretary, Attiya has also been the Director General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Company for Electricity Transmission/Northern Region since 2019. He is also listed as the ministry’s representative on the Iraqi-German joint committee, and as the head of the German KfW Development Bank Loan Team from 2017 until now.

The Iraqi electricity ministry’s website states that Attiya has “received more than 50 letters of appreciation from various entities” throughout his tenure, while adding that he has never been the subject of any penalties.