US-backed officials involved in massive fraud case

Afghan government officials supported by the US helped a smuggling ring sneak more than $800 million out of Afghanistan in the years prior to the Taliban takeover, Business Insider reported on Tuesday.

Citing a trove of documents the outlet obtained from former Afghan officials, it revealed that the money was mostly carried through a border crossing into the nation’s northern neighbor, Uzbekistan. Business Insider described it as “a river of cash flowing out” of Afghanistan.

The money was never declared to the country’s officials but was reported to Uzbek customs agents on the other side of the border, the outlet said, adding that it got access to a total of 457 pages of records detailing the cash flow.