Billions of dollars lost in Afghanistan reconstruction efforts due to waste, fraud and financial abuse, according to SIGAR

In a report from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), billions of dollars worth of waste, fraud, and financial abuse was uncovered, suggesting that the United States’ war-effort in Afghanistan was consistently marred by the ineffective application of financial resources, and corruption.

The report highlighted that $15.5 billion worth of wasteful and fraudulent financial activities took place in Afghanistan between May 2009 and December 2017, which were brought to light through 55 closed investigations taking place in the previous year. Furthermore, $12 billion were attributed to failed government efforts pertaining to U.S. spending on counter-narcotics and stabilisation programs, in which the report has identified the incidence of wastage, abuse and blatant corruption - which inevitably led these projects towards failure.

Specifically, the report adds that nearly $3.4 billion worth of waste, fraud and financial abuse were previously reported through SIGAR’s closed investigations, out of which approximately $1.5 billion in taxpayer funds were blatantly wasted, $300 million were lost to fraud, and an additional $34 million was lost due to financial abuse. The remaining $1.6 billion were allocated to counter-narcotics efforts, which according to the report were “wasted”, due to the ineffectiveness and lack of results from the aforementioned strategic efforts.

As of December 2019, Congress allocated nearly $134 billion (since 2002) for Afghanistan reconstruction; out of which SIGAR reviewed (up to $63 billion) through independent investigations that approximately $19 billion, or 30 percent of the reviewed amount, was lost to waste, fraud and abuse. In September 2019, the United States withheld $130 million worth in developmental projects, citing corruption and wastage as a key factor, and urging the incumbent government to curb down on financially fraudulent activities.