A court has ordered a freeze on eight bank accounts of Mohammad Sayeed Khokon, former mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation, his mother Fatema Hanif, wife Farhana Alam and sister Shahana Hanif as part of an investigation into alleged corruption.
Metropolitan Senior Special Judge KM Imrul Kayes passed the order on Sunday following the Anti-Corruption Commission’s plea, ACC counsel Mahmud Hossain Jahangir said on Monday.
ACC Deputy Director Jalal Uddin Ahmed filed the plea seeking a freeze on the accounts, including three of Khokon’s businesses. One of the other accounts belongs to his mother, two to his wife and sister each.
The ACC said in the plea the accounts were used for “abnormal, huge and suspicious” transactions.
“So, it is necessary to freeze the accounts immediately to stop withdrawal or transfer of money from them for the sake of proper investigation.”
There have been bids to transfer the money from the accounts, according to the ACC.
Khokon is the son of Mohammad Hanif, the late mayor of an undivided Dhaka. A member of the Awami League’s Central Working Committee, Khokon worked as the Dhaka South mayor from 2015 to 2020.
He had sought the Awami League’s nomination for the 2020 mayoral elections, but the party picked Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, son of Jubo League’s founder Sheikh Mani.
Last year, a traders’ leader sued Khokon and six other people on allegations of embezzling around Tk 350 million.
The accused allegedly promised traders legitimacy of the shops that were constructed at Block-A of Fulbaria Super Market 2 by violating the building plan.
But the authorities evicted them from the shops later while they did not get the money back, according to the case dossier. The Police Bureau of Information is investigating the case, reports bdnews24.com.
