The governor of Afghanistan’s central bank has fled the country in fear of his life after naming powerful individuals who benefited from a scandal at Kabulbank, the biggest lender.

Abdul Qadeer Fitrat told the Financial Times from a location in Northern Virginia that he had resigned his post and fled to the US a week ago to ensure his safety. Mr Fitrat’s flight is the latest twist in a banking scandal that exposed the crony capitalism that has flourished under the government of Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan’s president, and strained relations between Kabul and the west.

Mr Fitrat, who took up his post in November, 2007, said that he had received information that his life was “in imminent danger” after a televised appearance in parliament in April when he read out a list of people who he said had benefited from the bank’s loans.