Bank scandal casts doubt over Afghanistan's ability to handle aid

Bank scandal casts doubt over Afghanistan's ability to handle aid

Updated 28 November 2012, 16:18 AEST

What was once Afghanistan's largest private bank is embroiled in a scandal over a scheme which it's claimed funnelled almost $900 million into the pockets of the political elite, including President Hamid Karzai's brother.

Bank scandal casts doubt over Afghanistan's ability to handle aid (Credit: ABC)

An independent auditor's report says Mohammed Karzai collected more than $30 million in loans that he had little chance of ever repaying.
But while he has vigorously denied the claim, the report raises new questions about the credibility of the special tribunal set up by President Karzai to deal with the collapse of the failed Kabul Bank in 2010.
It also raises further concerns about Afghanistan's ability to handle foreign aid and whether donor countries like Australia should be putting money into Afghanistan at all.
Presenter: Fran Kelly
Speaker: Jimmy Gurule, former US Under Secretary for Enforcement at the Department of the Treasury
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