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Iraqi Central Bank repudiated responsibility on Wednesday for the loss of 17 billion US Dollars from the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) created in 2003 following the war. The bank’s powers in managing the fund were not factual during the term of American civil governor Paul Bremer, Central Bank revealed.
“Iraqi Central Bank wasn’t responsible for managing the DFI which was created under the bank’s name and deposited in the American Federal Reserve Bank,” Central Bank of Iraq’s Deputy Governor Mazhar Mohammad Saleh told Alsumarianews. “Civil governor Paul Bremer was the authorized party to carry out withdrawal and deposit operations as well as spending orders,” he added. “Until Iraq regained sovereignty in June 28, 2004, Central Bank had theoretical not factual powers in managing the fund,” he revealed.
“The Central Bank wasn’t responsible for the missing 17 billion USD,” Saleh argued. “This sum disappeared during the term of civil governor Paul Bremer,” he continued. “The US was the one to initiate investigations in 2005 regarding the money’s loss after suspicious financial conduct,” he pointed out.
“Since Iraqi Central Bank handled DFI’s responsibility, it has been duly performing the fund’s auditing,” Saleh announced. “The bank is continually examining spending and deposit operations of DFI’s deposited money,” he added.
“Iraq formed a commission to track the missing sums,” said Vice-president of American Federal Reserve Bank. “The commission is presided by the Deputy-Prime Minister and includes Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Finance as well as the financial monitoring office, the Central Bank Governor and high counselors in Iraqi government,” he enumerated. “Iraq cannot disregard this issue because the money belongs to Iraqis”, he stressed.
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