SIGAR expresses concerns over misuse of Afghan Trust Fund

The United States Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has expressed concerns about the misuse of Afghan trust funds in Switzerland by the Taliban in a published report.

SIGAR released a 55-page report on Monday, the 8^th of January, regarding the oversight of frozen assets of the Afghan Central Bank and sent it to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs. According to this report, SIGAR has also raised concerns about the designation of Haji Mohammad Idris, the head of the unit known as “FinTRACA,” listed as an international terrorist by the United States.

Previously, Michael McCaul, the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, had requested SIGAR to investigate and examine mechanisms for safeguarding the Afghanistan Trust Fund. The U.S. Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction emphasized that there is no guarantee that the Taliban will not misuse these funds, and the fund has not yet benefited the Afghan people.

SIGAR added, “While a consensus-building approach for fund decisions can help prevent risky activities, there is currently no specific control mechanism to prevent the diversion of its financial resources towards the Taliban.”

It is worth mentioning that the Afghanistan Trust Fund in Switzerland holds around $3.5 billion, which is part of the approximately $7 billion in assets of the Afghan Central Bank frozen by the United States Treasury Department following the rise of the Taliban administration in the country.

Previously, Shah Mohammad Mehrabi, a member of the Board of Directors of the Afghanistan Trust Fund in Switzerland, stated that the fund had earned $155 million in profits in the past 16 months.

This comes after more than $9 billion of Afghanistan’s assets have been frozen by the United States and European countries in the past two years following the rise of the Taliban. So far, the Taliban authorities have not commented on SIGAR’s report.

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