Sherkhan Farnood (15 August 196324 August 2018) was an Afghan banker, Chairman of Kabul Bank until late 2010, which is Afghanistan's largest private financial institution with over 1 million customers. Farnood held 28.16% of the shares in the Kabul Bank.[1] He also owned 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 were effectively under house arrest and could not leave the country.[4]

An ethnic Uzbek,[5] Farnood is originally from Kunduz Province of northern Afghanistan.[6] He studied chemical engineering full-time while simultaneously running a business in Moscow, Russia. During the 1980s and 1990s, he ran a hawala, or an informal money transfer organization in Moscow.[2]

Farnood became a prominent poker player, he took part in the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) and won his first bracelet.[7] Prior to his detention, he spent most of his time in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he owned a number of villas under his name on Palm Jumeirah.[8][9]

On 24 August 2018, Farnood died in prison at the age of 55, apparently due to natural causes.[10]

References

  1. "Financials". Kabul Bank. 31 March 2007. Archived from the original on 6 September 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  2. 1 2 "In Afghanistan, signs of crony capitalism (p.3)". Andrew Higgins. The Washington Post. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  3. Ellis, Eric (7 November 2010). "Why Farnood was flushed out of Kabulbank". Euromoney. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  4. Partlow, Joshua (1 February 2011). "Kabul Bank employees flee to Pakistan amid investigation into lending, officials say". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  5. "Afghan businessmen leave for Bonn meet". gulfnews. 29 November 2001. Retrieved 16 July 2011. 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. "Sherkhan Farnood". Pokernews.com. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  8. "In Afghanistan, signs of crony capitalism (p.2)". Andrew Higgins. The Washington Post. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  9. "US Cuts Aid After Millions Siphoned Off to Dubai". Susanne Koelbl. Spiegel. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  10. "Former Head Of Kabul Bank Dies In Prison". TOLOnews. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
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