The Anti-Corruption Commission has filed a case against the former mayor of Gazipur City Corporation and the corporation’s chief accounts officer, accusing them of embezzling and laundering approximately $641 million from development and revenue funds.
Former mayor Jahangir Alam and chief accounts officer Golam Kibria were named in the case, according to ACC Director General Md Akhter Hossain. Hossain disclosed the information during a press briefing Sunday at the commission’s headquarters in Segunbagicha.
According to Hossain, the two allegedly created fake tender documents and bills to siphon off government funds, which were later laundered abroad. The funds were misappropriated by awarding contracts to firms they owned, using forged deeds and documents submitted under the name of the city corporation.
“The former mayor, in collusion with the accounts officer, manipulated the system to award contracts to his own firms by submitting fake deeds and forged documents,” Hossain said.
He added that between February 25, 2020, and December 22, 2021, several million dollars were deposited and withdrawn from fake bank accounts opened under the name of the city corporation, contributing to the misappropriation.
The ACC began investigating the case seven months after Jahangir was suspended as mayor, following reports of large-scale corruption involving irregularities in development projects and unauthorized fund withdrawals.
Jahangir was elected mayor in 2018 as a candidate of the ruling Awami League. In September 2021, his party membership was revoked after allegations surfaced that he made offensive remarks about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the martyrs of the Liberation War. He was subsequently removed from office.
Gazipur is a major industrial city in central Bangladesh and part of Greater Dhaka. Gazipur is home to 2.6 million residents. It is a hub for the country’s textile industry, with approximately 75 percent of all garment factories in Bangladesh based there.
The ACC described the case as one of the largest embezzlement scandals involving local government officials in recent years. The alleged loss of $641 million has raised renewed concerns over transparency and accountability in municipal governance.