Ghani’s bodyguard claims he has proof the ex-president stole millions

A senior member of the former president’s security staff said on Sunday that Ashraf Ghani took with him “hundreds of millions” of dollars in cash while fleeing Kabul in August.

Brigadier General Piraz Ata Sharifi, who was head of Ghani’s bodyguard unit, said he also has video proof of this alleged theft.

In an interview with the UK’s Daily Mail, Sharifi, who is currently in hiding, said he saw huge bags of cash being transferred but also acquired a video clip from a CCTV camera.

“I have a [CCTV] recording [from the palace] which shows that an individual at the Afghan Bank brought a lot of money to Mr Ghani before he left,” Mr Sharifi claimed.

“Hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of dollars. There were many big bags, and they were heavy.”

He said he was disappointed as he liked Ghani. “This money was for the currency exchange market.

“Each Thursday, the dollars were brought for that purpose. Instead, it was taken by the president. Mr Ghani knew in the end what would happen. So, he took all the money and escaped,” Sharifi said.

Ghani, however, last month denied the allegation that he left Kabul with a helicopter full of cash, stating he left with only the clothes he was wearing.

Reports first emerged in late August that Ghani fled the country on August 15 taking $169 million in cash with him.

His abrupt departure allowed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to take Kabul two weeks before the US troop withdrawal had been completed.

However, last week, the US government’s inspector general in charge of investigating misuse of aid money in Afghanistan told Congress he’s “looking into” claims that Ghani and his subordinates stole millions of dollars before fleeing.

“We haven’t proven that yet. We’re looking into that,” Inspector General John Sopko said during a House hearing on Afghanistan.

“There are allegations, but not only with President Ghani. There are allegations with senior officials in their finance ministry, their central bank and a number of other ministries walking off with millions of dollars,” he said.

“But again, those are just allegations. We have not confirmed any of those yet,” he said.