The court case was viewed as a crucial barometer of Afghanistan's commitment to stabilizing the economy, less than two years before the withdrawal of most foreign troops that have been in the country since 2001.
Brothers of President Hamid Karzai and his first vice president, Mohammad Qasim Fahim, who were both Kabulbank shareholders, were spared jail sentences after a presidential decree last year granted immunity to those who returned funds.
"Corruption and the illicit economy - including a rise in poppy cultivation for the third year running - are chronic and debilitating to inclusive growth and, ultimately, donor interest," the U.N. report said.
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan is at a higher level than during Taliban rule despite efforts by the government and international forces to combat the trade, the United Nations said last month in the Afghanistan Opium Risk Assessment 2013.
High prices for opium, from which heroin is made, are encouraging farmers to grow poppies, it said.
U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in late 2001 for refusing to hand over al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. (Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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