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2. Previous Function:
ACCI Head of the Transport Committee (20111126)
Head Ahmad Rashed Rahmani Ltd (2011)
Head of the Rahmani Foundation (20181004)
Wolesi Jirga Member 2018 MNA MP Kabul
ACCI Head of Transit and Transport Committee (20191109)

3. Biodata:
Haji Ajmal Rahmani, s/o MP Mir Rahman Rahmani (Parvan) who is the brother of General Baba Jan, was born in Bagram District, Parwan Province. Rahmani studied at Kabul University. He completed a  Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at private HULT International Business School in London, U.K.(2016-20180214) Rahmani is a nephew of General Baba Jan, a major commander in the area of Bagram airbase, who became rich as a contractor providing for the base’s supplies and is said to be financially supporting a number of other candidates in Wolesi Jirga 2019 election. Ajmal is known popularly as “Armoured Ajmal” after his business selling bulletproof cars to the Kabul elite.

Haji Ajmal Rahmani, the head of the Rahmani Foundation, said in Kabul  that his foundation had stepped in as a key sponsor for this year’s Afghan Premier Football League (APL).(20181004, 20181027)

Rahmani secured 11,158 (most in Kabul) votes in Wolesi Jirga Election 2018 and got a seat in WJ 2018.

He is married since 2007.

Rahmani speaks Dari and English.

Official Biodata:

Mr. Haji Ajmal Rahmani is the Chairman and CEO of the Rahmani Group which is a prominent Afghani conglomerate with a particular focus on the Energy, Logistics, Real Estate and Financial Services sectors.

He is an active member of the Afghan business community and is currently a Board Member of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and a Board Member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Mr. Rahmani comes from a prestigious and well respected Afghan family that has contributed to the growth and development of Afghanistan over the last 100 years. Recently he obtained a Global Executive Master Business Administration degree in 2017 from the American HULT International Business School in London which is ranked in the Top 20 international business schools (Source: Bloomberg Businessweek-2016 Survey).
 

Mr. Haji Ajmal Rahmani has become one of the most affluent persons in Afghanistan through Rahmani Group’s successful business acumen as it has created thousands of jobs and consumer wealth via the successful growth of its Energy and Financial Services divisions. He has also established a substantial Foundation which is the centre of his philanthropic activities in Afghanistan. The Foundation has provided Afghans with schools, roads, bridges and water distribution facilities that has increased the living standards significantly for the Afghan population. (20190710)
 

December 11, 2023 , the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two former Afghan government officials — Mir Rahman Rahmani (M. Rahmani) and his son, Ajmal Rahmani (A. Rahmani), collectively known as “the Rahmanis” — for their extensive roles in transnational corruption, as well as 44 associated entities. These individuals and entities are designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world. Through their Afghan companies, the Rahmanis perpetrated a complex procurement corruption scheme resulting in the misappropriation of millions of dollars from U.S. Government-funded contracts that supported Afghan security forces. 

Rahman Rahmani, a former Afghan speaker of parliament, and his son, former Afghan parliament member Ajmal Rahami, are accused of using their Afghan companies to perpetrate what the Treasury described as a "complex procurement corruption scheme" that netted them millions.

"In nearly every step of their corruption scheme, the Rahmanis created opportunities to enrich themselves at the expense of others," the federal department said in a statement.

According to U.S. officials, the Rahmanis artificially inflated the price of fuel contracts they won to deliver fuel to Afghan security forces, fraudulently imported and sold tax-free fuel and under delivered fuel owed by their contracts as well as used their positions in the Afghan parliament to perpetuate their corruption.

The Treasury also accuses the pair of having bribed their way into parliament.

Of the 41 companies hit with punitive measures for being owned or having acted on behalf of the Rahmanis, 21 were German, eight were Cypriot, six were Emirati, two were Afghan and Austrian and one was dutch and another was Bulgarian.

Another two German companies and a Dutch company were sanctioned for their involvement in the scheme.
 

In August 2020, a year before the dramatic collapse of the Afghan Republic government, Al Jazeera reported, as part of its Cyprus Paper investigation, that the older Rahmani had not only bought Cypriot citizenship for himself and his family but also acquired passports for St. Kitts and Nevis, via citizenship by investment (CBI) programs that offer fast tracked passports to foreign locales for the rich. 

In outlining the sanctioning of the Rahmanis, the U.S. Treasury Department noted, “Corrupt officials, like the Rahmanis, acquire and utilize foreign citizenships to conduct business around the world.” The Treasury Department designated a total of 44 entities alongside the two Rahmanis, including 21 Germany companies, eight Cypriot companies, six Emirati companies, two Afghan companies, two Austrian companies, one Dutch company, and one Bulgarian company allegedly controlled by or acting on behalf of Ajmal Rahmani, plus three more companies (two German and one Dutch) that were nested under some of the companies sanctioned. 

The sanctions effectively block any U.S. assets held by the Rahmanis and prevent U.S. entities from dealing with them. It’s not clear from current reporting where the Rahmanis are. They reportedly fled Kabul on the day it fell, flying to Islamabad.

As news of the sanctions broke, Taliban officials took the opportunity to argue that the United States had supported such officials for 20 years. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, “This sanction is on two people who belong to the former administration of Kabul. It is linked to the U.S. In the past 20 years, the U.S. supported those people who were corrupt and were seizing the money of the people of Afghanistan and even the U.S. money through such actions.”

Arguably, corruption such as that outlined in the sanctions weakened the Afghan Republic irreparably, paving the way for its collapse and the Taliban’s return to power. Corruption was always a complaint during the 20 years the U.S. was involved militarily in Afghanistan, and something SIGAR – tasked with oversight of how U.S. taxpayer money was spent amid the war – shouted about constantly since its 2008 advent.