Ex-DSCC mayor Khokon under BFIU scanner

Staff Correspondent

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit of the Bangladesh Bank has asked commercial banks to provide account details of Sayeed Khokon, former mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation.

The BFIU, which is responsible for investigating money laundering, suspicious transactions and cash transaction reports, made the request on Tuesday.

Khokon worked as the DSCC mayor from April 2015 to May 2020.

In December 2020, a Dhaka court directed the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to investigate a case filed against Sayeed Khokon and six others over embezzlement of 34.89 crore taka.

Earlier in June this year, the court ordered a freeze on some eight bank accounts belonging to the former DSCC mayor and three of his family members as part of an investigation into allegations of amassing illegal wealth.

Khokon, son of late Mohammad Hanif, the first elected mayor of undivided Dhaka City Corporation, is also a member of the ruling Awami League’s Central Working Committee.

Of the bank accounts ordered to be frozen, three belong to Khokon’s business companies, one belongs to his mother Fatema Hanif and two each belong to his wife Farhana Alam and his sister Shahana Hanif.

Khokon had also sought the Awami League’s nomination for the 2020 DSCC mayoral elections, but the party picked Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, son of Jubo League founder Sheikh Fazlul Haq Mani, instead.

Earlier in January this year, DSCC mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh filed two cases with a Dhaka court on Monday against Sayeed Khokon on allegations of defamation.

The lawsuits were filed in response to public allegations Khokon brought two days ago saying Taposh is not eligible for the post of mayor.