PATERSON — Former councilman Mohammed Akhtaruzzaman faces more than $25,000 in fines for not filing campaign finance reports for Paterson’s special election in November 2020.
The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission filed a complaint against Akhtaruzzaman last month accusing him of not filing three required finance reports from Paterson’s 2nd Ward race in November 2020.
The state complaint says the former councilman faces a maximum fine of $8,600 for each of the three violations.
“I’m mailing it now,” Akhtaruzzaman said when contacted by a reporter on Tuesday. “I just had to make a correction.”
The reports were due in October and November of 2020, according to ELEC.
Paterson City Council President Shahin Khalique, the winner of the 2020 special election in the 2nd Ward, also failed to meet the state campaign finance reporting deadlines, according to documents on ELEC’s website.
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Khalique filed his reports for the 2020 election in August and September 2022, according to the documents posted by ELEC. Khalique’s reports said he spent $15,317 on the special election, including at least $12,000 of his own money.
State officials declined comment when asked if Khalique faced any penalties over his tardy filings.
Khalique beat Akhtaruzzaman in the special election by a 2,762 to 2,662 tally. The two men had finished in a tie in the regular May election for the 2nd Ward seat, necessitating the do-over contest.
Akhtaruzzaman burst onto Paterson’s political scene in 2012 when he became the first Bangladeshi American to win elected office in the city. That feat required two separate elections when a judge nullified Akhtaruzzaman’s initial victory because he didn’t live in Paterson long enough to run for office.
Akhtaruzzaman eventually prevailed because the second election was held after enough time had passed for him to meet the residency requirement.
But Khalique ousted Akhtaruzzaman in 2016, an election that became embroiled in a civil lawsuit over fraud that dragged on for more than a year.
Akhtaruzzaman said on Tuesday that he planned to stay out of politics for a while.
“I’m out of it now,” he said. “I want to spend more time with my family.”
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com
