Iraq’s Commission of Integrity announced on Friday that 1,668 officials, including 15 former ministers and 122 seniors have been indicted for corruption, Al-Araby Al-Jadid reported.

Chief of the Commission Hassan al-Yassiri said in a press conference that arrest warrants were issued for the accused for theft of public funds, embezzlement, bribery, corruption and other issues.

“This number is for this year only,” Al-Yassiri said, “we hope the Iraqi executive authorities respond to the warrants and arrest the culprits.” He said that the Commission had contacted the international police (INTERPOL) for this purpose.

Meanwhile, Al-Yassiri said that 373 persons, including three seniors had been arrested. He also said that the total sum ordered to be returned to the national treasury was 889 billion Iraqi dinars. There are still larger amounts to be investigated.

Speaking to Al-Araby Al-Jadid on the issue, Iraqi economic analyst Adnan Abdul-Wahid said: “Billions of USDs were stolen by Iraqi officials… The reason behind the current financial crisis in the country is that the previous government had stolen the budget.”