喀布尔银行欺诈案主犯被判入狱

 

Founder² and former chairman Sherkhan Farnood and ex-CEO Khalilullah Ferozi were tried in a special court.

 

Revelations of massive corruption³ led to a run on the bank in 2010.

 

Foreign donors⁴ bailed⁵ it out fearing its failure could lead to the collapse of Afghanistan's fragile economy. 

 

The country's future aid contributions could have been jeopardised（危及） if no action had been taken against those responsible for the fraud, reports the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul. 

 

Farnood has been fined $288m and Ferozi $530m by the Kabul Bank Special Tribunal. More than 20 other employees were also being tried.

 

The bank handled most of the government payroll⁶, including salaries for policemen and teachers.

 

But in fact this was a sham⁷, reports our correspondent, as its main purpose appears to have been to ferry hundreds of millions of dollars out of Afghanistan. 

 

A report by an independent auditor⁸ leaked in November 2012 showed that the vast majority of the bank's loans - almost $900m - were made to just 19 people and companies.

 

An earlier finding by Afghanistan's anti-corruption office said that $467m of outstanding loans had been made without appropriate collateral⁹. 

 

Our correspondent says that much of the stolen money is unlikely to be recovered. 

 

The two men have the right to appeal, reports the Associated Press news agency.

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