ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Scammers in the Kurdistan Region face light sentencing while their victims have difficulties receiving their rights back, making it a daily occurrence, according to lawyers. One example is Kurdistan Taha, who was scammed $54,000 while trying to sell her house. She was going to use the money so that her son, a peshmerga and father of four, could get medical treatment abroad. The victim said she has only received $9,200 out of the $54,000 that was taken and she has to go to court every two or three days. Their lawyer, Haval Ameen, claimed that the family may face court dates for years until something is done for them, noting that the light sentencing has made scams a daily occurrence in the region. “If the person has no assets registered in their name, they may submit a report to the executive directory, stating they can pay 100,000 Iraqi dinars per month [$16]. If the victim's family does not approve the amount, the individual will be sentenced to no more than four months in prison,” said Ameen, explaining that the suspect can pay the amount back monthly once they have served their sentence, with the option of going as low as $16 per month. A group of lawyers are working on taking this case to parliament. According to the lawyers, less than 10 percent of the money obtained by scammers has been returned to their victims and the laws have made it so that the victims would rather negotiate with the suspects than take them to court.
