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Sayeed Khokon

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Sayeed Khokon
সাঈদ খোকন
Member of Parliament
In office
29 January 2024 – 6 August 2024
Preceded byKazi Firoz Rashid
Succeeded byVacant
ConstituencyDhaka-6
1st Mayor of South Dhaka
In office
7 May 2015 – 7 May 2020
Preceded byPost established
Succeeded bySheikh Fazle Noor Taposh
Personal details
Born (1970-06-19) 19 June 1970 (age 54)
Dhaka, East Pakistan, Pakistan
NationalityBangladeshi
Political partyBangladesh Awami League
SpouseFarhana Sayeed
Parent
Alma materDhaka City College
OccupationBusinessman, politician

Sayeed Khokon is a Bangladeshi businessman, politician and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Dhaka-6 constituency. He was mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation from 2015 to 2020.[1] He is the executive member of the Bangladesh Awami League Central Committee.[2] His father, Mohammad Hanif, was first elected mayor of Dhaka City Corporation. He has been in hiding since the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government on 5 August 2024.

Early life

[edit]

Khokon's father Mohammad Hanif was the first elected mayor of Dhaka.[3]

Career

[edit]

Khokon collected nomination form of Awami League on 24 March 2015.[4] He won in the first Dhaka South City Corporation election on 29 April 2015.[5]

On 26 July 2017, Khokon blamed Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority for water logging problems in the city.[6]

On 26 December 2019, Khokon collected Dhaka South City Corporation nomination papers from Awami League.[7] The nomination went to Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and Khokon accordingly accepted the decision of the party and party president, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.[8][9]

A case was filed against Sayeed Khokon and several other for allegedly embezzling 350m BDT by the Gulistan Fulbaria City Supermarket-2 owners' association president Md Delwar Hossain in December 2020.[10][11] The money had been paid for allocation of shops in block A between 2015 and 2019 which were later demolished for violating the original design of the complex.[12] 911 shops were demolished by the city corporation on 9 December.[13]

Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of Dhaka Court on 28 June 2021 order the accounts of Khokon and his wife, sister, and mother be frozen.[14] The accounts were frozen after a request from the deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Commission Jalal Uddin Ahmed who was in charge of the investigation on Khokon.[14] On 28 July 2021, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit sought information on accounts held by Khokon from banks in Bangladesh.[15] He blamed his successor, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, for instigating the actions of the Anti Corruption Commission.[16] Taposh did not respond to the allegations.[17] He also alleged his successor kept millions of city corporation funds in Modhumoti Bank Limited, which Taposh owned.[18][19] Two defamation suits were filed against Khokon for his comments about Taposh but Taposh himself called for their withdrawal.[20][21][22]

Khokon was nominated by the Bangladesh Awami League to be the member of parliament for the Dhaka-6 constituency in the 12th National Parliament election. On 7 January 2024, he was elected by a huge margin. The election was reported by international observers to be a one-sided election because it was boycotted by all major opposition parties. After the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government, Khokon's house was ransacked and looted. He has gone into hiding ever since along with his family members.

Corruption

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Sayeed Khokon was first accused of corruption when his tenure as mayor ended. Many shopkeepers in Dhaka South City Corporation complained that Sayeed Khokon personally took money from them to make their shop leases permanent. Instead of making the shops permanent, he embezzled the money which led to the shopkeepers losing their money. He has been accused of misappropriating more than Tk. 1,000 crore from Islami Insurance Bangladesh Ltd. (a general insurance company). In 2012, Khokon removed the then chairman Tofazzal Hossain from the board and made himself the chairman. Since then, Khokon has been the chairman of the company without any election. Additionally, eight directors of the company were removed by Khokon and he appointed his own family members as directors, including his wife, sister, wife's sister, sister's husband, two underage daughters and other close relatives. Public companies have to keep two independent directors on their board, one of the independent directors is Javed Ahmed (his sister Shahana Hanif's husband) and the other is the son of Imran Ahmed (vice-chairman of the company). Another one of Khokon's uncles, Humayun Kabir, was also appointed as an independent director. Despite being absent from many board meetings, Khokon, his wife, sister-in-law, daughters, and sister would take fees for attending the board meetings. Khokon also took a unilateral decision to sell the insurance company's two officers located in Purana Paltan & New Paltan, and shifted the company's office to a leased floor in his own building located in Banani.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "Awami League-backed Sayeed Khokon emulates father, wins Dhaka South City mayor election". bdnews24.com. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Sayeed Khokon made AL central committee member". The Daily Star. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Mayor Hanif's anniversary of death today". The Daily Star. 28 November 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  4. ^ "4 more collect forms for mayoral race". The Daily Star. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Awami League-backed Sayeed Khokon emulates father, wins Dhaka South City mayor election". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Mayor Khokon blames Wasa". The Daily Star. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  7. ^ "DSCC polls: Khokon collects AL nomination form". The Daily Star. 26 December 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  8. ^ "'PM is my guardian, I am happy with her decision'". The Daily Star. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  9. ^ Bhattacharjee, Partha Pratim (27 December 2019). "AL may opt for a new face in south". The Daily Star. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Tk 350m embezzlement charges loom over ex-mayor Sayeed Khokon". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Traders file 35C embezzlement case against ex-DSCC mayor Sayeed Khokon, 6 others". Dhaka Tribune. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Former DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon, 6 others sued over embezzlement of Tk 35 crore". The Daily Star. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  13. ^ Alam, Helemul (9 December 2020). "Illegal Shops in Fulbaria: Hundreds torn down". The Daily Star. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Court orders to freeze 8 bank accounts of Sayeed Khokon, family members". The Daily Star. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  15. ^ "BFIU asks banks to provide account details of Sayeed Khokon". The Daily Star. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Taposh harassing me to hide own failure: Khokon". The Daily Star. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Taposh instigated ACC move to freeze bank accounts, Khokon alleges". The Daily Star. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  18. ^ "A big fish going after a small fry: Khokon calls out Taposh on corruption". The Daily Star. 9 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Khokon questions Taposh's eligibility". The Daily Star. 10 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Overenthusiastic lawyers filed cases against Khokon". The Daily Star. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  21. ^ "'Defamatory remarks' against Taposh: 2 cases filed against Khokon". The Daily Star. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  22. ^ "'What is the market value of Taposh's reputation?', Khokon asks". The Daily Star. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  23. ^ https://www.jugantor.com/tp-lastpage/841884


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