KABUL (SW): Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) on Saturday stressed that the government should not let go of the Kabul Bank scam and bring it to its ultimate end.
Sayed Ikram Afzali, Executive Director of Integrity Watch said Kabul Bank corruption has badly affected the state, economy, development, and democracy in Afghanistan as well as citizens’ and international community’s trust.
He noted that the Kabul Bank scandal have seriously dented the reputation of the banking sector.
Afzali added if the government does not take the case of 155 borrowers seriously, and prosecute, expose and penalize the accused felons of Kabul Bank case and their connected politicians, people’s trust in the new government will be lost.
IWA urged the Afghan government to take Kabul Bank case more seriously. While the new government has made some progress in recovering the embezzled funds and prosecuting of those involved, there is still a long way to go to wind up this case, it said.
The efforts to prosecute those involved in Kabul Bank scandal will not be successful without serious investigation and integrity on the part of the investigators, it added.
Given the sums of money involved, it can be expected that considerable pressure will be brought to bear against those involved in taking action against the individuals involved in this case. Such pressure may also consist of financial inducements – bribery – to prevent action being taken against individuals in some instances, IWA feared.
De Afghanistan Bank (Central Bank) should immediately identify and address all banking shortages in accordance with the Financial Action Task Force action plan committed in 2012, IWA stressed.
Abdul Basir Azizi, spokesman for the Attorney General Office (AGO) said on the occasion the government has managed to recover $ 440 million.
ENDS
