German Project of US-Sanctioned Former Afghan MP Stopped: Op-Ed
The US sanctions against former Wolesi Jirga speaker Mir Rahman Rahmani and his son, ex-MP Ajmal Rahmani, have led to first consequences in Germany where most of their sanctioned companies are located.
The municipality of Ehningen, near the city of Stuttgart, in the south-west of Germany, stopped the development plan procedure for the so-called Quantum Village, a core project of the Rahmanis’ Ozean Group, “with immediate effect” on 13 December. Quantum Village, at the same time, is a beacon project of Germany’s quest for worldwide leadership in quantum computing high-tech. Ozean Group, established in 2016 by Ajmal Rahmani, is partnering there with IBM Germany, leading research institute, the Fraunhofer Society and Stuttgart region’s development agency.
Quantum Village is the location of Germany’s first commercially usable quantum computer. The Rahmanis bought the 9-hectare area in 2021 for an unknown sum and were in the process of developing a combined lab-and-apartment area which was planned to attract international top scientists.
The municipality has stopped this now, insisting that it had “no influence” on the area’s purchase by the Ozean Group from IBM but took the sanctions “very serious.” Baden-Wuerttemberg’s state government, meanwhile, told German daily Die Tageszeitung that it had “no knowledge” of the Rahmani’s alleged corruption which had led to the US sanctions. It said it will “look into the matter” now, while reacting to international sanctions were in the responsibility of the federal government in Berlin. In April this year, Baden-Wuerttemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Green Party) had inaugurated Quantum City’s first facility, cutting the ceremonial ribbon for the Quantum & AI Experience Center (http://Q.AX) side-by-side with Ajmal Rahmani who leads the Ozean Group. Then Germany chancellor Angela Merkel attended by video link.
The Ozean Group, headquartered in Herrenberg, also near Stuttgart, seems to be the core of the Rahmanis’ empire of interests in Germany. 23 of the 44 companies linked to the Rahmanis and sanctioned by Washington are located in Germany. 13 of them – with the term ‘Ozean’ (ocean) in their names – seem to belong to this group. They specialize in real estate.
According to Ajmal Rahmani’s website, his companies are also in the process of concluding contracts with companies “in Germany and neighbouring European countries” to provide natural gas-based energy. He also claims there that he was continuing business with NATO in Europe, providing it fuel “in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.”
The US Treasury accuses the Rahmanis of having misappropriated “hundreds of millions” of US dollars between 2014 and 2021 through US contracts to import fuel for Afghan and western forces. Both Mir Rahman Rahmani and Ajmal Rahmani left Afghanistan after the return of the Taleban. According to the US Treasury, Rahmani the Elder is based in Turkey and Rahmani the Younger in Dubai. Other sanctioned Rahmani companies are registered in Cyprus (eight), the UAE (six), Austria and Afghanistan (two each), the Netherlands and Bulgaria (one each).
The Rahmanis have “completely” denied the US allegations, stated that they were based on “false information” and their publication was “against international standards and principles.” Ozean Groups spokesperson Klaus Fockenberg told German media, a “team of lawyers“ would take action against the accusations in the US and Germany and that he was optimistic that the Rahmanis will be cleared of them.
