A Dhaka court has ordered to freeze eight bank accounts of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) former mayor Sayeed Khokon's businesses and three of his family members.
Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of the Dhaka Senior Special Judge’s Court on Sunday passed the order accepting a petition submitted by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Deputy Director Jalal Uddin Ahmed, also the IO in the case.
The three others are Sayeed Khokon’s wife Farhana Alam, mother Fatema Hanif and sister Shahana Hanif.
The petition says that a large amount of money was transacted through the eight accounts. The accounts need to be blocked on an urgent basis to ensure that no money is withdrawn, handed over or transferred from those accounts until a proper investigation is carried out.
The ACC official alleged that the accused were trying to transfer money from those accounts.
Of the accounts, three are Khokhon’s business accounts. One of the accounts belongs to his mother Fatema Hanif, and two each to his sister Shahana Hanif and wife Farhana Alam.
Sayeed Khokon is the son of late Mohammad Hanif, the first elected mayor of undivided Dhaka City Corporation. A member of the Awami League’s Central Working Committee, Khokon worked as the DSCC mayor from April, 2015 to May, 2020.
He had also sought the AL nomination for the 2020 DSCC mayoral elections, but the party picked Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, son of Jubo League founder Sheikh Fazlul Haq Mani.
On December 29 last year, Khokon and six others were sued by a businessman on charges of embezzlement of around Tk35 crore.
Md Delwar Hossain, president of the Businessmen and Owners’ Association of Fulbaria City Supermarket-2 in Gulistan, filed the case with a Dhaka court. The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) is investigating the case.
