Afghan Biographies

Fahim, Abdul Haseen


Name Fahim, Abdul Haseen
Ethnic backgr. Tajik
Date of birth
Function/Grade Brother of late Vicepresident Qasim Fahim
History and Biodata

2. Previous Functions:
Afghan Investment Company Vice Chairman (20091118)
Shareholder Gas Group, Kabul Oil Company, Zahid Walid Group, Afghan Cement,

3. Biodata:
Haseen Fahim, the brother of Afghanistan's current first vice president Marshal Qasim Fahim, has been a beneficiary of Kabul Bank's largesse. He got money from Ex Chairman Kabul Bank Sherkhan Farnood to help buy a $6 million villa in Dubai, which, unusually, is under his own name. He borrowed millions more from the bank, which he partly owns, to fund companies he owns in Afghanistan. For his part, Haseen Fahim has taken out $92 million in loans for various projects, Afghan banking officials say. The officials say those loans have not been repaid. (NYT 2010 Sept, 7.

Fahim's business has boomed, thanks largely to subcontracting work on foreign-funded projects, including a new U.S. Embassy annex and various buildings at CIA sites across the country, among them a remote base in Khost where seven Americans were killed in a suicide attack by a Jordanian jihadiist.

Abdul Haseen Fahim, had a investor share in at least three companies (Gas Group, Kabul Oil Company, Zahid Walid Group)  that took loans totaling $182 million. While Abdul Haseen Fahim had only a share in each of these companies, his presence, like that of Mahmoud Karzai, a brother of President Hamid Karzai, helped to curtail scrutiny of the loan’s validity, according to diplomats.

Kabul Bank began to take in new, politically connected shareholders, among them the president's brother, Mahmoud, and Haseen Fahim, brother of the vice president, who registered his stake in the name of his teenage son. Fahim said two of his companies have borrowed $70 million from Kabul Bank. Mahmoud Karzai has profited directly from his relationship with Kabul Bank. He and Haseen Fahim were part of a group of investors who borrowed $14 million from Kabul Bank to start Afghan Cement. In the interview, Mr. Karzai confirmed this transaction.

In an interview, Abdul Haseen Fahim played down the significance of his loans, said he had paid back “10 percent to 20 percent” of the money and suggested that the bank and its chairman, Mr. Farnood, bore the main responsibility. “The main money is with Sherkhan,” he said.

Among the outstanding loans is one for $21 million to the Kabul Oil Company, in which Abdul Haseen Fahim had part ownership along with Mohammed Ismail Ghazanfar, the owner of Ghazanfar Bank; Atta Muhammad Noor, a former Northern Alliance commander and now the governor of Balkh Province; and Kamal Nabizada, a business magnate in northern Afghanistan. Mr. Ghazanfar subsequently sold his share to the Kabul Bank chairman, Farnood. The report says auditors doubt that Kabul Oil’s loan will ever be repaid because it has no operations or assets.  Noor said that although he was a partner, he had not played an active role. “The business never went forward,” he said.

As for Mahmoud Karzai, the president’s brother, he has agreed to pay back only a sliver of some $18 million he borrowed without interest, according to the Central Bank’s report.

Haji Abdul Hassin Fahim, brother of late frist Vice President Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim, was singled out by Central Bank with ten individuals as having taken out irregular and irresponsibly large loans: 78 million USD (20110502) Mahmoud Karzai and Mohammad Hassin Fahim have not repaid their loans from the former Kabul Bank. The issue was being followed by the Financial Disputes Resolution Commission (FDRC) but without any satisfactory results.(20130209)

Last Modified 2023-04-06
Established 2011-06-19