Kabul Bank

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Kabul Bank Honchos Punished for Fraud—Kind Of

Karzai brother conspicuously absent

(Newser) - An Afghan court convicted 21 people for their involvement in the Kabul Bank scandal today, a development that would have been nigh-unthinkable not long ago in the notoriously corrupt country, the New York Times reports. But independent observers say the sentences were surprisingly light given the severity of the fraud...

Kabul Bank Was a Massive Ponzi Scheme: Audit

Its purpose: to benefit Karzai insiders

(Newser) - Fraud was rampant at Kabul Bank—and a new report shows how deeply the corruption went. Indeed, "from its very beginning, the bank was a well-concealed Ponzi scheme," says an audit obtained by the New York Times . The bank's primary purpose, the audit suggests, was financial gain...

Indicted Afghan Banker Free, Playing Poker

He's exhibit A of Afghan corruption: New York Times

(Newser) - Sherkhan Farnood hosts an extraordinary poker game at his lavish Kabul home. The participants: Members of Hamid Karzai's inner circle. The stakes: Thousands of dollars, or more than most Afghan families make in a year. It's striking, because Farnood is supposed to be in jail and his assets...

Afghan Bank Investigator Quits, Savages Karzai
Karzai Wants US to Arrest Afghan Bank Chief
UPDATED
Jun 28, 2011 1:06 PM CDT

Karzai Wants US to Arrest Afghan Bank Chief

Official resigned and fled to America, blasted Afghanistan government

(Newser) - Afghanistan has asked the US to arrest and hand over Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, the natin's Central Bank president who resigned citing fear of reprisals for his investigation of the Kabul Bank corruption scandal . Abdul Qadeer Fitrat resigned yesterday during a trip to the US, the New York Times reports....

Afghanistan's Top Bank Faces $900M Losses

Experts fear bank's collapse amid widespread fraud

(Newser) - Kabul Bank might be on the brink of collapse. It's lost as much as $900 million in its fraud and mismanagement scandal , three times more than investigators originally expected, the New York Times reports. Investors and businessmen believe most of that cash wound up in the hands of elite Afghan...

Karzai's Brother Skirts Kabul Bank Freeze

Afghanistan's top bank teeters on the brink

(Newser) - With Kabul Bank in crisis , authorities in Afghanistan have frozen some assets of all the bank’s principal owners—except for Mahmoud Karzai, brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The Afghan Central Bank has sent a letter banning the bank’s owners from selling property, the Washington Post reports, but...

War, Poverty, Taliban ... and Now Afghan Bank May Fail

(Newser) - What more could go wrong in woebegone Afghanistan? Well, its largest bank could fail. Fear of that has led long lines of depositors to crowd outposts of Kabul Bank, clamoring for their money, most unable to withdraw more than $1,000. The removal of long-time bank managers and rumors of...

Six Decapitated in Afghan Bank Heist

Police think they were poisoned the night before

(Newser) - Six Afghan private security guards were beheaded during a bank robbery in northern Afghanistan, police said today. An unknown number of robbers raided a Kabul Bank in Balkh province, making off with $269,000 in US and Afghan currency. It appeared the guards had been poisoned beforehand, with someone slipping...

Afghan Poker Star Funds Secret Villas for Karzai & Pals

Kabul Bank gives hidden loans to officials

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s largest commercial bank has been giving off-the-books multimillion-dollar loans to top members of Hamid Karzai’s government, to help them buy luxury villas in Dubai. Kabul Bank's founder and chairman is Sherkhan Farnood, Afghanistan’s only world-class poker player, and many of the villas, including Karzai’s own,...

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