Sherkhan Farnood ( – ) was an Afghan banker,

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

Kabul Bank Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into 22 municipal districts. A 2025 estima ...

until late 2010, which is

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

'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 Pamir Airways was a privately owned airline headquartered in Kabul, Afghanistan, operating scheduled passenger flights out of Kabul International Airport. The company name is derived from the Pamir Mountains and translates "roof of the world". H ...

, in partnership with

Khalilullah Fruzi Khalil Allah or Khalilullah () is an Arabic name, usually associated with Abraham. It can also refer to: * Khalilullah I (d. 1465), King of Shirvan * Khalilullah II (d. 1535), King of Shirvan * Khalil Allah I (d. 1634), 37th Nizari imam * Khalil ...

/Frozi,

Mohammed Fahim Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim (; – 9 March 2014) was an Afghan military commander and politician and the 2nd Marshal of Afghanistan who served as Vice President of Afghanistan from June 2002 until December 2004 and from November 2009 until hi ...

and possibly others. According to media reports, by November 2010

Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB, ; ) is the central bank of Afghanistan. It regulates all banking and monetary transactions in Afghanistan. Established in 1939, the bank is wholly government-owned. It is active in developing policies to promote financial inclusion and a ...

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 was originally from

Kunduz Province Kunduz () is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northern part of the country next to Tajikistan. The population of the province is around 1,136,677, which is mostly a tribal society; it is one of Afghanistan's most ethnically ...

of northern Afghanistan. He studied chemical engineering while simultaneously running a business in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

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

hawala Hawala or hewala ( , meaning ''transfer'' or sometimes ''trust''), originating in India as havala (), 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 hug ...

, or an informal money transfer organization in Moscow. Farnood became a prominent

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player, he took part in the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe (

WSOPE The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series o ...

) and won his first bracelet. Prior to his detention, he spent most of his time in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, where he owned a number of villas 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 the Dubai Islands, ...

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

References

1963 births 2018 deaths 21st-century Afghan businesspeople Afghan bankers Afghan poker players Afghan Uzbek people World Series of Poker bracelet winners Afghan expatriates in the United Arab Emirates Sportspeople from Kunduz Province {{Afghanistan-bio-stub