Amrullah Saleh, First Vice President has rejected the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s (SIGAR) report over the smuggling of cash from the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
In his daily 6:30 am meeting, Saleh stated: “However a massive amount of foreign currency does exit Afghanistan’s porous land borders by cross-border networks.
“The report on the flight of foreign currency from Kabul airport is not correct and substantiated,” said Saleh.
Saleh added that a large amount of cash was flowing out of the country to Pakistan.
“The strict anti-money laundering regulations have created a dark parallel market. Let’s be real,” he emphasized.
Last week, SIGAR reported that the unchecked flow of cash out of Afghanistan still exits at the Kabul airport due to poor screening procedures.
According to the report, cash counting machines, which were funded by the US government, are not being used for the purposes intended and the only cash counting machine confirmed to be working is in the arrival entrance, instead of the departure area where strict cash controls are most needed to help prevent cash smuggling.
In addition, the machines lack connectivity to the Internet, which in turn prevents Afghan investigative authorities from tracking currency suspected of being laundered.
“The absence of fully functional and strategically positioned cash counting machines, and declaration forms in the VIP section along with the limited screening of VIP passengers – who are most likely to have large amounts of cash – severely limits the Afghan government’s ability to fully implement its anti-money laundering laws at the airport,” John F. Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction stated in the report.
