Thursday, February 17, 2011

Hundreds of millions missing from Kabul Bank discovered months ago including government payroll. With US 'in decline,' global daddy IMF takes over

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UPDATE: 2/19/11, Branch of Kabul Bank bombed: "Eighteen dead in Taliban attack on Afghan bank"

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US taxpayer money in Afghanistan is making some people very rich. The US government allows IMF involvement which is as helpful to Americans as Bonnie and Clyde.

"Among three senior Kabul bank executives and shareholders under investigation is the brother of Afghanistan's First Vice-President Mohammad Qasim Fahim."...

Mahmoud Karzai, brother of President Hamid Karzai is a major shareholder but "not being investigated."...US federal prosecutors are however investigating Mahmoud for criminal activities.

2/16/11, "Kabul Bank faces receivership after IMF visit," BBC

"An International Money Fund (IMF) report says Afghanistan's largest private bank, Kabul Bank, should be placed in receivership.

Doing so would help the government's plan to stabilise the country's financial system, the IMF said.

  • It came at the end of an 11-day visit to Kabul to examine the Afghan economy.

Corruption, bad loans and mismanagement cost Kabul Bank hundreds of millions of dollars. When the scandal broke last year, Afghans sped to withdraw savings.

The IMF team said receivership was

  • "the most appropriate mechanism for successful resolution of the bank".

It also said the government must explain what was being done to deal with the bank and

  • to protect the banking system."...
  • (They must really be scared. ed.)

(continuing): "Finally, any illegal behaviour or fraud linked to the bank should be prosecuted, it said.

"This will be followed by a process where the bank will be rapidly sold or wound down and the central bank is

  • recapitalised
  • with government resources as needed," the IMF statement added."...
  • (Translation: with even more US taxpayer dollars to be stolen again. ed.)

(continuing): "The bank handles most of the government payroll, including salaries

  • for policemen and teachers.

The central bank sacked Kabul Bank's top executives and took control

  • of its finances in September.

Along with other assets, investigators have identified a total of

  • $436m owed to the bank.

Among three senior Kabul bank executives and shareholders under investigation is the brother of Afghanistan's First Vice-President Mohammad Qasim Fahim.

Another major shareholder is Mahmoud Karzai, the brother of President Hamid Karzai, but Mahmoud Karzai is

  • not being investigated."
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Reference: 10/18/10, "President Klaus: The IMF is a 'barbaric relic,'" Cato@Liberty

"President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic has just given an important speech in Prague on Central and Eastern Europe and on the IMF. Among other lessons of the global financial crisis he points to the growing menace of the IMF:

I consider the IMF a barbaric relic from the Keynesian and fixed-exchange rate era. I know it is a harsh verdict but Keynes himself repeatedly used similar strong statements about his colleagues which justifies my using such a terminology.

I am convinced the IMF should be dismantled or radically restructured as soon as possible. To do the opposite, to increase its role as it happened as a result of the last year’s G20 decision in the middle of the panic connected with the then looming crisis or to speculate about creating similar institutions on individual continents (especially in Europe) is a wrong way to go. It is yet another manifestation of a mistaken and dangerous global governance mindset which – to my great regret –

  • has been getting more and more support in the intellectual and political circles these days.

To whom and how at all can the IMF be held responsible for its activities? And if its proposals or measures turn out to be mistaken (and this can happen very easily),

  • who will face the consequences? Certainly not the IMF. (emphasis in original)"

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