A series of striking claims has emerged around the departure from Bangladesh of Serniabat Khokon Abdullah, the former mayor of Barishal City Corporation, on the eve of the fall of the Awami League government amid the mass anti-discrimination movement. It is alleged that he left with about 16 crore taka loaded into a car, and that the money was later sent through hundi via Malaysia and Singapore to his son in the United States. (1 crore = 10 million.)
Although he left Barishal late on August 4, he is said to have stayed until the last week of October 2024 at the home of an influential BNP leader in Khulna. He later crossed into India through the Tamabil border, going first to Assam and then to Kolkata, accompanied by his wife. He subsequently moved to the United States, where he is said to be trying to settle permanently by opening a departmental store and a petrol pump in Texas to establish himself as an investor.
It is further alleged that, while in hiding in Khulna, Khokon back-dated his signature on cheques worth about 27 crore taka owed to several city corporation contractors. His then assistant private secretary is said to have carried the cheques from Barishal to Khulna for signing and back again, helped by two officials of the corporation’s engineering (civil) and accounts sections. In exchange for signing, the former mayor allegedly took 20 to 40 percent of each total bill, signing only after receiving the money.
Though he had no background in Awami League politics, he was made mayor through a token election on the strength of the Sheikh family connection, being a cousin of Sheikh Hasina and the son of Abdur Rab Serniabat. The Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating allegations that he siphoned off hundreds of crores of taka during just seven months in office.
On the morning of August 4, a Barishal city Awami League leader was killed in a mob beating while firing at protesting students and members of the public. Khokon became frightened by that incident. That night he called a then ward councillor and two Jubo League leaders to his rented house on Alekanda road, and decided then to leave Barishal.
One of the three leaders present that night said: “Although the decision was taken together, Khokon left quietly without telling anyone. Around 3 a.m., two vehicles of a special force escorted the car carrying the former mayor and his wife, front and back. We learned he had gone at least half an hour after he left. From Barishal he went straight to his brother-in-law’s house in the Sonadanga area of Khulna. After a few days there he took shelter at the house of an influential Khulna BNP leader,” whom he had helped in business at Mongla port during the long years of Awami rule. He was himself president of the Mongla Port Stevedores’ Association.
An Awami League leader present at his house that night said: “In those three hours he packed the cash and gold ornaments in the house into bags. I later heard from his then assistant private secretary that there was about 16 crore taka. But neither he nor his wife took any clothes. They went to his brother-in-law’s house in Khulna with that huge sum. From there the money was sent by hundi to a Jubo League leader who fled to Malaysia after August 5. From Malaysia it was later sent to the accounts of several shell companies in Singapore in the name of the mayor’s son, who was already a US citizen.”
Because the source of funds must be declared to move money into the United States, Khokon allegedly sent it there through shell companies opened in Singapore. Most of what he is alleged to have taken between becoming mayor and August 5 was said to have been laundered this way, along with earnings from Mongla port-centred trade. On the final consignment of 16 crore taka, however, he is said to have lost 3 crore, allegedly taken by the Malaysia-based contact — a matter over which the two quarrelled.
His attempts to leave the country continued from the Khulna shelter. He failed on four attempts before entering Assam through the Tamabil border in Sylhet in the last week of October, flying from Guwahati airport to West Bengal and taking a rented house near New Town Action Area-1 in Kolkata with his wife.
An Awami League leader from Barishal now in Kolkata said Khokon rented a car there for a month, with the car and driver staying at his house, and that the couple were seen walking hand in hand at a Kolkata mall on November 5, 2024. He then began trying to reach his son in Texas, and in early December flew with his wife from Kolkata to the United States.
A Barishal city Awami League leader now in Texas said: “Under the Trump government’s latest golden-visa opportunity, Khokon and his wife obtained US visas for about 16 crore taka, and they are in Texas on that basis. They have also bought a departmental store and a petrol pump in the United States. They are trying to obtain citizenship there on the basis of these investments and businesses.” His son already owned two houses in Texas, one of which the couple are living in.
Another leader of the banned Barishal city Awami League unit, now in Kolkata, said: “Khokon became mayor only to make money. That is what he did in seven months in office. He siphoned off hundreds of crores. He is now living in comfort in the United States on that money, while we are on the run, eating or not eating.”
All known phone numbers of Khokon Abdullah were called for comment on these matters but were found switched off. Those once close to him said he has no contact with anyone in the party.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report