The Ministry of Defense on Friday confirmed that Sherkhan Farnood, former chairman of the old Kabul Bank, has died in prison at the age of 57.

He was serving his sentence at Bagram Prison after being found guilty in the $900 million Kabul Bank embezzlement scandal in 2014.

Kabul Bank, once the country's largest financial institution, collapsed in 2010 in one of the largest banking scandals in the country's history.

The former chairman of Kabul Bank, Sherkhan Farnood, and CEO Khalilullah Frozi were sacked from their positions and arrested over the embezzlement of more than $900 million in cash and assets.

Frozi and Farnood were sentenced each to 15 years in jail after they were found guilty in the collapse of Kabul Bank, now run by government.

In November 2015, government launched the 'Smart City Township' Project in which Khalilullah Frozi was a part.

Government officials said the aim of the program was to help the debtors of Kabul Bank repay their debt instead of being imprisoned.

The move however sparked an outcry.

In February 2016, President Ashraf Ghani cancelled the contract of the Smart City Township.

Sherkhan Farnood was the chairman of Kabul Bank until late 2010, which was Afghanistan's largest private financial institution with over one million customers at the time.

Farnood held a 28.16 percent share in the old Kabul Bank. By November 2010 both Farnood and Frozi had been suspended.

As of early 2011, both were effectively under house arrest and could not leave the country.