Monday, November 29, 2010

It Really Pays to Be a Corrupt Afghan Government Official

I mean it really pays. From the Wikileaks data dump:
Afghanistan Vice President Ahmed Zia Massoud was suspected of corruption after he was caught with $52 million in cash while visiting the United Arab Emirates last year.
My big question: What could Massoud possibly control that was worth $52 million in payoff money? Is it looking the other way on major opium shipments out of the country, or something else?

(ViaNyPo)

2 comments:

  1. Why does the money have to belong to him? He could've just as easily been a money-mule for some other individual or group, like the CIA. After all, it's a lot easier to smuggle just about anything when you have diplomatic immunity (like, say, a US politician smuggling their dignity past the TSA in a US airport without being subject to a molestation or cancer-zapping).

    ReplyDelete
  2. $52 million in hundreds would weigh 1,092 lbs and take up about 312 cubic feet--that is, six grocery pallets piled four feet high with cash. It would also fill 62 large suitcases.

    ReplyDelete