Justice Department Seeks Seizure of Beverly Hills Mansion

A Beverly Hills mansion tied to a politically connected Kurdish military figure is in the crosshairs of the U.S. Department of Justice, which is seeking to seize the property in relation to an alleged multimillion-dollar bribery scheme linked to U.S. military fuel contracts.

This week, the DOJ filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize the French-style villa known as Foothill Manor owned by Kurdish General Mansour Barzani, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project reported. The federal government alleges Barzani used roughly $30 million in proceeds, allegedly acquired from defrauding the U.S. Department of Defense during its fight against the Islamic State, to purchase and renovate the property, which features a private theater, pool and European-style gardens.

Prosecutors claim Barzani accepted bribes from a Virginia-based contractor in exchange for granting exclusive access to deliver jet fuel at Erbil International Airport in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region between 2016 and 2020. The airport, controlled by Kurdish Peshmerga forces, served as a key logistics hub for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Syria during Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.’ campaign against the Islamic State from 2014 to 2021.

The contractor was identified in the complaint only as “Contractor 1” but was traceable through contract records to logistics firm DGCI. The contractor allegedly paid Barzani $0.25 per liter of fuel delivered. In return, it secured a lucrative foothold in a tightly controlled supply chain, billing the U.S. government as much as $10 per gallon for jet fuel, well above the Department of Defense’s typical range of roughly $2 to $3 per gallon.

Federal authorities have leaned on civil forfeiture tools to claw back properties tied to foreign officials accused of laundering illicit funds through American property, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

The Barzani family’s real estate footprint in the U.S. appears to extend beyond a single mansion in Beverly Hills. Mansour Barzani and his brother Masrour — the prime minister of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region — and other relatives allegedly used shell companies to acquire more than $100 million in U.S. real estate and luxury assets, per the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.— Chris Malone Méndez