New York Post: The Ghani family likes to live in style. Just a week after Ashraf Ghani cowardly abandoned his country for the luxury confines of Dubai (reportedly with $169 million in cash shoved in a helicopter), it turns out both of his kids live in luxury while women in their homeland live in terror
The News: Former US President Donald Trump has called Afghanistan’s former President Ashraf Ghani “a total crook,” adding, “He got away with murder.” Trump also said that he suspected that Ghani fled with cash when he secretly left Afghanistan last Sunday. Trump’s suspicion was based on Ghani’s “lifestyle”, “his houses” and “where he lives,” Trump
Reuters: Russia’s embassy in Kabul said on Monday that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country with four cars and a helicopter full of cash and had to leave some money behind as it would not all fit in, the RIA news agency reported. Click here to read more (external link).
Washington Post: The 43-year-old Kabul native departs under a cloud, indicted in Kabul alongside two other Afghan officials on embezzlement charges – which she has denied and attempted to refute – that she says have more to do with gender and her country’s highly personalized and insular politics than any wrongdoing. Click here to read
occrp.org: In late 2019, SOS International (SOSi), a Virginia-based company with links to the U.S. military and intelligence apparati, obtained exclusive access to various mines across Afghanistan. As part of the deal, Ghani’s family got a little something on the side. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: A number of lawmakers in Afghanistan’s Wolesi Jirga—the lower house of Parliament–on Wednesday blamed the Afghan government for what they described as systematic corruption and the embezzlement of the national assets of the country. They said that a few government officials are behind all the corruption and embezzlement cases. Click here to read
Tolo News: The Afghan acting minister of finance on Wednesday did not deny claims by lawmakers in Parliament who alleged that $8 million worth of revenue is being embezzled at customs on a daily basis, but he did say there are reports of corruption involving governors, police commanders, employees of the Ministry of Finance as
Tolo News: Kabul residents are accusing Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) of discrimination and say the company is not distributing electricity fairly to its customers in the capital. Kabul residents said DABS is supplying electricity only to palace-dwellers, government officials, and powerful people, not for every home in the remote areas of the city, as
AP: A California man [Saed Ismail Amiri, 38, of Granite Bay] pleaded guilty Tuesday in a scheme to bilk the Afghanistan government out of more than $100 million with a phony bid to build an electric grid, authorities said. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Afghanistan’s acting finance minister Khalid Payanda said on Thursday that 50 percent of national revenue is being embezzled due to corruption, a lack of capacity and outdated finance system. According to Payanda, reforms will be brought to the current finance system. Click here to read more (external link).