Wyndham City councillor Intaj Khan charged

The Inspectorate, the integrity agency for local government in Victoria, has filed 9 charges against Wyndham City councillor Intaj Khan.

The charges relate to the filing of ordinary interest returns and non-disclosure of relevant information on those returns between February 2016 and February 2017. Charges included:

• 3 charges involve an alleged failure to disclose companies in which Cr Khan held office during the return period
• 3 charges relate to alleged failure to disclose companies in which he held a financial interest
• 2 charges related to a failure to submit ordinary returns and one charge for failing to disclose property holdings

These charges are not disqualifying offences under the Local Government Act 1989 and Cr Khan remains entitled to serve as a councillor.

Chief Municipal Inspector David Wolf said ensuring the accuracy of ordinary returns was an important responsibility of councillors, to ensure the transparency and integrity of council decisions.

This matter is separate to the recent interviews conducted by the Inspectorate with the majority of candidates in the 2016 Wyndham City Council election. The Inspectorate has additional matters in the final stages of investigation, which will conclude shortly. These matters do not relate to the elected councillors.

“It is important to note that these charges and the investigation into election candidates does not reflect on Wyndham City Council, which continues to provide good governance for the municipality,” Mr Wolf said.