NUG Fails to Properly Collect Old Kabul Bank’s Debts: IWA

National Unity Government (NUG) has failed to properly collect the debts of old Kabul Bank, a watchdog said Sunday.

It has been eight years since the Afghan government begun collecting the debate of the old Kabul Bank which was collapsed in 2010.

During the former President Hamid Karzai’s tenure, $370 million debts of the bank were collected by the government from the overall debts of $987 million. However, since the opening of the Kabul Bank’s case, the National Unity Government has only managed to collect $78 million in debts.

The Integrity Watch Afghanistan says NUG was being expected to collect the debts – from the movable and immovable properties of the debtors, but due to political deals and the weakness of the judiciary institutions in the case – it has failed to collect the money.

 “The government has politically dealt with the case and the government institutions do not have the capacity to collect the money back,” said Naser Temori, a researcher at the IWA. 

The head of old Kabul Bank Sher Khan Farnood who has reportedly died of heart disease recently in Bagram prison had been sentenced to 10 years in prison. He had paid $334 million before his imprisonment and Chief Executive of the bank Khalilullah Ferozi has paid $137 million before being jailed to 10 years.

Farnood and Ferozi have been among the debtors of the bank. Apart from them, 12 other individuals involved in the case are also currently serving prison sentences and 16 more are under investigation of the judiciary institutions.

Rejecting the issue of being involved in political deals on the old Kabul Bank’s case, Spokesman of the Attorney General’s Office, Jamshid Rasoosi said: “We are an independent institution and we are doing our tasks based on the law. Our performances have been in line with the law and its provisions.”