Glendale Heights village president charged with filing false police reports
Glendale Heights Village President Chodri Ma Khokhar has been charged with filing false police reports.
But he says he is innocent and intends to continue serving as village president while the case is heard.
"I believe in the criminal justice system of the United States. I will fight, and by the grace of God, I will win. I am an honest person. I am transparent. I don't lie. I am fighting for my residents," Khokhar said.
"I have no intention of resigning."
Khokhar, 66, of the 1500 block of President Street, faces two felony counts of disorderly conduct.
According to the indictment, Khokhar alleged in reports to two police officers in April and May that village Trustee Mohammed Siddiqui had threatened to bite him.
He filed the reports "knowing at the time of the transmission that there was no reasonable grounds for believing that the offense had been committed," according to the indictment.
Siddiqui referred questions to the DuPage County state attorney's office, but he released a written statement saying in part that he has "full confidence in our Judiciary, our Police department & DuPage County investigation which did their job professionally."
The case was investigated by the Glendale Heights Police Department. Khokhar was indicted by a DuPage grand jury. The charges were filed Wednesday.
On Friday, Khokhar declined to discuss the details of the charges or the alleged threats.
As of Friday afternoon, details about Khokar's reports were not available from the police department.
Khokhar is free on a personal-recognizance bond. His next court date is Sept. 11.
At least one village trustee says Khokhar should step down.
"Resign," Trustee Chester Pojack said. "Give it up. We have a deputy mayor."
The charges come after months of acrimony during village board meetings. Pojack said the village is the "laughingstock of DuPage County."
"I've been on the board 20 years. This is the worst it's ever been, period," Pojack said.
In February, Khokhar sought an order of protection against Siddiqui. In his petition, Khokhar said that Siddiqui had harassed him with critical email.
In the email, Siddiqui called Khokhar's behavior "disgraceful" and criticized the way he treated several employees, including George Pappas, who is now the police chief, according to documents filed in court.
A copy of the email from Siddiqui was included in Khokhar's request for an order of protection.
"You are mayor by accident and not by choice (see the comments about yourself in social media). Start acting like a responsible adult & stop derogatory behavior toward those who don't agree with your opinions," Siddiqui wrote.
Khokhar requested that the court order Siddiqui to stop saying and writing "derogatory comments" against him.
A judge denied the request.
In May, Khokhar sued Siddiqui, alleging the trustee had defamed and harassed him and had committed civil conspiracy with several residents to arrange for one of them to retain a longtime contract for running the village's cricket fields.
Khokhar has said that the village was paid too little under contracts signed by the previous administration and favored contracting with an entity that would pay more. He says Siddiqui opposed that because he is the brother-in-law of the previous operator.
Siddiqui's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Khokhar won his seat in April 2021, in what started as a four-way race. The Illinois Supreme Court removed longtime Village President Jackson and Edward Pope from the ballot several days before the election, and Khokhar defeated Mike Ontiveroz by two votes.
Ontiveroz announced in May that he will run again in 2025.