Sherkhan Farnood ( – ) was an Afghan banker, Chairman of Kabul Bank until late 2010, which is

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

's largest private financial institution with over 1 million customers. Farnood held 28.16% of the shares in the Kabul Bank. He also owned Pamir Airways, in partnership with Khalilullah Fruzi/Frozi,

Mohammed Fahim Mohammad Qasim Fahim ( prs, محمد فهیم, also known as "Marshal Fahim"; 1957 – 9 March 2014) was a politician in Afghanistan who served as Vice President from June 2002 until December 2004 and from November 2009 until his death. Betwee ...

and possibly others. 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;. As of early 2011 both were effectively under house arrest and could not leave the country. An ethnic Uzbek, Farnood is originally from Kunduz Province of northern Afghanistan. He studied chemical engineering full-time while simultaneously running a business in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. During the 1980s and 1990s, he ran a

hawala Hawala or hewala ( ar, حِوالة , meaning ''transfer'' or sometimes ''trust''), also known as in Persian, and or in Somali, is a popular and informal value transfer system based on the performance and honour of a huge network of money ...

, or an informal money transfer organization in Moscow. Farnood became a prominent poker player, he took part in the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe ( WSOPE) and won his first bracelet. Prior to his detention, he spent most of his time in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

, where he owned a number of villas under his name on

Palm Jumeirah The Palm Jumeirah is an archipelago of artificial islands on the Persian Gulf in Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is part of a larger series of developments called the Palm Islands, including Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira, which, ...

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

References

1963 births 2018 deaths Afghan businesspeople Afghan bankers Afghan poker players Afghan Uzbek people World Series of Poker bracelet winners Afghan expatriates in the United Arab Emirates People from Kunduz Province {{Afghanistan-bio-stub