The project is a national PPP project and awarded with responsibilities and obligations under contract. Since its inception, Mr. Helmandi has been a thorn for Mahmood Karzai who has used the project as his private treasury. Since 2017, Mr. Helmandi has been trying to have a full audit of the project, which Mr. Mahmood Karzai has been denying and preventing. With all the embezzlement, fraud, money laundering and theft, it is not surprising. Unfortunately, for Mr. Mahmood Karzai, the evidence is overwhelming—both for him, and for his criminal accomplices in the Kandahar Chamber of Criminals and Aino Maina’s land-grabbing Association.
A preliminary audit was recently completed, ahead of a promise by the current government to have an audit and to submit the case to a special court. Both the audit order and special court decisions were one of the reasons behind Haji Bahaudin leading a smear campaign against Mr. Helmandi, and ultimately orchestrating kidnappings and hostage taking missions.
Here is a sneak into what the preliminary audit revealed:
- Approximately 375 million dollars of revenues from plots sold; of which approximately 260 million dollars has been received. And approximately 120 million dollars is outstanding—many owed by a select group of people who were accomplices in turning the national PPP project into a private gambling operation. All in violation of basic real-estate development norms and regulations. Explained below:
- At least 75 million dollars is owed to the project by people, some of whom are Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Aino Maina homeowner association members. This money has not been paid to the company and most of it belongs to the same people (either in their names or names of their family members). In some instances, a 25% deposit has been made; in some instances, it has been given to them by Mahmood Karzai, without having made payments. The scheme is explained below:
- Thousands of plots of land issued to one person on the same day. We will refer to an example as Haji Aziz. Haji Aziz will have made a nominal deposit of 25% on the 700 plots of land that he received on June 10. The purchase price on the books is $12 per square meter. When an innocent member of the public has wanted to purchase land in Aino Maina, the finance and sales departments has informed them that properties have been sold out, however, they might be able to purchase from Haji Aziz. The person goes to Haji Aziz and Haji Aziz offers them a purchase price of $40 dollars per square feet. There are a large file of such individuals, including Haji Anwar, Shireen Agha, Haji Nader, Rahmat Kamran, Haji Rafi, Haji Azizullah. We will publish the full list of these land usurpers.
- Over 40 million dollars in cash missing from the accounts between 2010-2012.
- 58 million dollars in company funds were transferred illegally and embezzled into another company that belonged to a relative of Mr. Mahmood Karzai.
- Forty eight million dollars laundered between March 2018-June 2021, under Mahmood Karzai’s private license and business which has no legal nexus to the national PPP project license and company. It also revealed that money continues to be collected in the finance department under Mahmood Karzai’s private company in cash.
- Millions of cash withdrawn suspiciously, some with no details and others with unusually high expenses associated with items such as fuel, food, Mahmood Karzai’s private security, food, charities, campaign donations—all with impunity with no transparency or knowledge of other partners.
- 6.1 million dollars of Mahmood Karzai Kabul Bank theft collected from company money and people’s deposits, by the written order of Mahmood Karzai.
- Green areas, public areas, water detention areas all sold specifically to Sediq Momand, Haji Bahaudin, and Ali Ahmad Ishaqzai under either their names or names of their family members. These properties have been turned into landfills which poses grave damage to the environment, underground water, and soil.
- Water samples of Aino Maina resident’s drinking water, and sewere lines that have been polluted and contaminated, with perhaps even toilet waste. Between March 2018-November 2022, Mahmood Karzai collected at least 48 million dollars under his private license, and failed to deliver the services that were owed to the 250,000 residents under the PPP contract.
- Documents showing that Maiwand Bank was made aware that this money was being collected under the legal PPP company license, name and pretense, yet illegally deposited and laundered through the pipe manufacturing licensein their bank.
- Documents showing an investigation led by the Central Bank in 2022 on Mahmood Karzai’s money laundering and submitted to the Special Crimes Unit of the Ministry of Interior.
- Luxury homes in Dubai that have been traded with Aino Maina properties in Kandahar. The titles of these luxury homes and properties have been turned over to the names of Mahmood Karzai’s family members. One particular property has been discovered in the “Meadows.”
- The auditors have also uncovered millions of dollars funneled to presidential campaigns and parliamentary campaigns and gifts to public officials. These are payments made by Mahmood Karzai, from the funds that were supposed to be used to build infrastructure and other services to the residents under the PPP contract. And all these funds were paid without any knowledge of any partners.
- There are many fraudulent transactions for people with the last name of Karzai, with records showing highly inflated payments made to Mahaz Karzai. Free properties and homes have been given to people with the last name of Karzai. There is one public property of a building worth nearly one million dollars which was a civil society center used for the youth. Records show that it illegally usurped in the summer of 2021 and sold for 640,000 dollars by someone with the last name Karzai and funds transferred outside Afghanistan.
- Over twenty million dollars of land issued for free to people, mostly in the government in the form of bribes, leaving the financial burden on those who have paid for their properties. In other words, the burden of services for those who have been bribed fall on paying customers.
- Evidence showing fraudulent contracts and major kickbacks on the part of Mahmood Karzai and his accomplices. In other words, theft from the project and in return substandard services in many areas.
- Documents showing forged documents and forged signatures; email communications exhibiting attempts to kill Mr. Helmandi; email communications related to bribes and extortion’s involving Mahmood Karzai and at least on accomplice.
- Legal documents, including court rulings and orders exhibiting: embezzlement on the part of Mahmood Karzai, false allegations of Mahmood Karzai against Hamid Helmandi, massive financial influence and political influence exercised by Mahmood Karzai (and his accomplices) on the judiciary authorities; and forged documents by a person named Yusuf Karzai and Rahmat Kamran forcing themselves to become partners in the company without any legal basis.
All in all, the auditors have concluded that this national PPP project has been a center for financial crimes ridden with fraudulent contracts, embezzlement, land grabbing, and money laundering.
Note: Mahmood Karzai continues to embezzle and launder the money in cash. In other words, the public is continues to be consistently deceived and defrauded as deposits are collected for the national PPP project legal company, but under the name of Mahmood Karzai’s private pipe manufacturing company. This money is diverted and laundered to Mahmood Karzai’s private accounts. To put it another way, he has illegally usurped a national PPP project whose legal ownership belongs to AFCO International Roads and Construction Company in which Mr. Helmandi is a partner; yet, Mr. Mahmood Karzai is operating this national PPP project under his illegal and fraudulent private license: Embezzlement, theft, and money laundering.