Sherkhan Farnood

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Sherkhan Farnood was the Chairman of Kabul Bank until late 2010, which is Afghanistan's largest private financial institution with over 1 million customers. Farnood holds 28.16% of the shares in the Kabul Bank.[1] He also owns Pamir Airways, in partnership with Khalilullah Fruzi/Frozi, Mohammed Fahim and possibly others.[2] According to media reports, by November 2010 Da Afghanistan Bank insisted both Farnood and Kabul Bank chief executive Frozi had been removed from bank management;.[3] As of early 2011 both are effectively under house arrest and cannot leave the country.[4]

An ethnic Uzbek,[5] Farnood is originally from the northern Kunduz Province of Afghanistan.[6] He received education and a start in business in Moscow, Russia. During the 1980s and 1990s, he ran a hawala, or an informal money transfer organization in Moscow.[2] The hawala was reportedly used by heroin and opium smugglers to transfer money to Tajikistan and Afghanistan. In 1998, the hawala was closed down by Russian authorities for money laundering and its role in the transfer of drug money; Farnood, who had left Russia shortly beforehand, escaped arrest.[7] Sherkhan operated in Russia under the name "Sherhan Mohammad Morad."[8]

Farnood became a prominent poker player, he took part in the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE).[9] Prior to his detention, he spent most of his time in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he owns a number of villas under his name on Palm Jumeirah.[10][11]

References

  1. ↑ "Financials". Kabul Bank. March 31, 2007. Retrieved 2010-09-06. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "In Afghanistan, signs of crony capitalism (p.3)". Andrew Higgins. The Washington Post. February 22, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-06. 
  3. ↑ Ellis, Eric (2010-11-07). "Why Farnood was flushed out of Kabulbank". Euromoney. Retrieved 2010-11-11. 
  4. ↑ Partlow, Joshua (2011-02-01). "Kabul Bank employees flee to Pakistan amid investigation into lending, officials say". Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
  5. ↑ "Afghan businessmen leave for Bonn meet". gulfnews. November 29, 2001. Retrieved 2011-07-16. "I am born Uzbek, but I speak Tajik, Hazara and Pashto. I am married to a Pashtun. My mother is a Tajik. It is better you don't ask me about my tribal affiliations, because I am an Afghan." 
  6. ↑ Afghan Biographies: Farnood, Sherkhan Shirkhan Farnud
  7. ↑ Johnson, Gary H. "Poker, Drug-Running and Illicit Deals at the Kabul Bank: The Double Life of Sherkhan Farnood". Family Security Matters. Retrieved 2012-02-23. 
  8. ↑ Johnson, Gary H. "Poker, Drug-Running and Illicit Deals at the Kabul Bank: The Double Life of Sherkhan Farnood". Family Security matters. Retrieved 2012-02-23. 
  9. ↑ "Sherkhan Farnood". Pokernews.com. Retrieved 2010-09-06. 
  10. ↑ "In Afghanistan, signs of crony capitalism (p.2)". Andrew Higgins. The Washington Post. February 22, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-06. 
  11. ↑ "US Cuts Aid After Millions Siphoned Off to Dubai". Susanne Koelbl. Spiegel. July 5, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-06. 
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