Tracing the political actors involved in Iraq’s biggest ever heist

On October 24, one of the primary suspects involved in the theft of $2.5 billion was arrested in Baghdad Airport after he tried to flee the country on a private jet. Nur Zuhayr al-Mudhafar is one of the businessmen linked to the five companies that siphoned off the cash from a Rafidain bank account belonging to the General Taxes Commission. Two weeks since news of the theft first became public, speculation remains rife about which politicians and parties were behind the heist.