TOLOnews has obtained video footage showing employees of a bank tearing valid banknotes and then talking about how they want to exchange the damaged notes for new banknotes and then sending the damaged money to the market.

The footage shows employees of a bank inside a room at night tearing one edge of 500 and 1,000 banknotes of Afghanistan.

The employee who recorded the footage appears to have done so for fun. According to him, the banknotes were worth more than 200,000 AFs.

The video also depicts another person joining the employees who then shows them how to tear the banknotes in a way that it shows up as random damage.

The state-owned Central Bank admits that such incidents occur in banks. 

“We will take serious action against this practice because the smallest illegal act is not acceptable. We hope that we can obtain documents and take the next step in this respect,” said Aimal Hashoor, spokesman for the Central Bank.

Earlier this year the Central Bank announced a ban on a number of defaced banknotes and said it will collect them after a six-month deadline.

Later, the bank limited the conditions for the defaced banknotes which will not be allowed in the market. The issue, investors say, affected the use of banknotes in the local markets.

“Unfortunately these days, the money which we take from the Central Bank and other banks are not worth accepting,” said Abdul Wase, a shopkeeper.

“The money circulates and then comes to investors and to the people of Afghanistan. It again circulates and pours into banks and so the circulation continues,” said Jafar Hameed, an investor.

Meanwhile, the money-exchangers union accused the Central Bank of distributing defaced banknotes to the market.

“We send our money to private banks and the private banks send it to the Central Bank. The Central Bank then distributes this money to the market. If the leadership of the Central Bank pays attention to the matter and stop distributing this money, the problem will be solved,” said Mir Afghan Safi, head of the union.