AGO rejects anti-graft committee’s remarks

KABUL) The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Wednesday rejected the anti-corruption body’s claims the outcome of an investigation into Kabul Bank’s scandal was unsatisfactory.

A member of the Independent Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC), Nuhu Ribadu on Tuesday said the outcome of the investigation into the bank case and embezzlement at the Daud Khan Hospital was not acceptable to the committee.

MEC Chairman Drago Kos asked the government to frame necessary policies against graft, suggesting elements behind the Kabul Bank crisis and embezzlement should be tried in public.

He said the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) had also been urged to evolve a policy for fighting corruption in the country with cooperation from the international community.

Kabul Bank, the country’s largest private lender, ran into serious financial problems last year due to bad loans and other anomalies. Later, the Ministry of Finance accepted some shares of the bank, currently operating under the name of New Kabul Bank.

A member of the committee, Mohammad Yasin Osmani, said the international community had provided $40 million (1.9 billion afghanis) to the Daud Khan Hospital, but huge embezzlement had been committed in the use of the assistance.

Deputy Attorney General Rahmatullah Nazari rejected remarks of MEC officials, saying the investigation into the Kabul Bank crisis was normally underway. “MEC has asked us for a clarification, but it shared the issue with the media before our clarification.”

MEC officials in a report sent to the AGO had asked for the establishment of an independent body to follow the investigation, but the AGO considered the demand against the Constitution, he said.

According to Nazari, land, shops, cars, houses and some other property belonging to the Kabul Bank had been registered with the AGO and it could resolve the crisis by selling the assets.

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