A six-storied house and 50 acres of land of BNP leader and former Dhaka City Corporation mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka have been confiscated by the government as per the court order.
The court declared the verdict in connection with the case filed by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on charge of concealing information of wealth and illegally acquired assets as well as tax evasion.
According to Dhaka district administration sources, a notice was hanged on Thursday to confiscate Sadeque Hossain Khoka’s house situated on five katas of land at plot No 9, road No 72, Gulshan- 2. The estimated price of the house is Tk 2 crore 47 lakh and 60 thousand.
The government also confiscated his 50 acres of land in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj district yesterday.
The upazila administration officially announced their confiscation of the lands in Tarabo and Golakandail areas in Rupganj.
Narayanganj Deputy Commissioner Rabbi Miah said: “the government is moving to acquire, appropriate and declare the land as ‘khas’ (state-owned).”
Rupganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Farhana Islam said, a court order in relation to a case by the ACC directed the move to confiscate about 50 acres of land in Kornogop, Tarabo and Golakandail areas in Rupganj.
The land has been demarked and red flags have been erected on the land, the UNO said.
Earlier, a Dhaka court has found senior BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka guilty of acquiring wealth through illegal means.
He has been sentenced to 13 years in prison. The court said the charges leveled by the ACC were proven beyond doubt.
The court of Dhaka’s Third Special Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar gave the verdict on the case filed by the ACC in 2008 during the military-backed caretaker government’s regime.
It said Khoka acquired wealth worth around Tk 100.52 crore through illegal means and evaded taxes on assets worth Tk 96.5 crore.
The court also ordered confiscation of his assets worth Tk 100.52 crore.
Khoka, a former minister and mayor of Dhaka, has been in the US since May 2014 and the trial has been held in absentia.
He has been given a three-year prison term and fined Tk 100,000 for providing false information on his assets.
He would have to spend another month in jail if he fails to pay the fine.
Another 10 years rigorous imprisonment has been awarded to Khoka for concealing wealth. He has been fined Tk 10 lakh for this offence, failing to pay which would mean another six months in jail.
A court jailed 13 years to Sadeque Hossain in connection with a case of ACC in the last year.
According to case, the ACC filed a case accusing Sadeque Hossain Khoka, his wife Ismat Ara, son Israque Hossain and daughter Sarika with the Ramna Police Station on April 2, 2008.
The ACC investigation officer framed charge sheet against Khoka and his wife while their children escaped from the case the same year.
