Mohamed Bahi, ex-Adams admin, faces federal prices – NBC New York
A former New York Metropolis official, who till Monday labored within the Adams administration, has been arrested and charged with witness tampering and obstruction of justice, based on federal prosecutors.
In a brand new criticism from the U.S. Lawyer’s workplace for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors allege Mohamed Bahi, 40, organized fundraisers for Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 marketing campaign and accepted straw donations. Prosecutors say Bahi obstructed the federal investigation into these donations by deleting the encrypted messaging app Sign from his cellphone when FBI brokers arrived at his home in July 2024 with a search warrant.
Bahi can also be accused of ordering “third events” to misinform federal brokers and did so after assembly with “OFFICIAL-1,” Adams, based on the criticism.
“As alleged, Mohamed Bahi obstructed a federal legal investigation by instructing witnesses to lie after which destroying proof,” U.S. Lawyer Damian Williams stated in a press release. “The costs unsealed at present ought to go away little question in regards to the seriousness of any effort to intervene with a federal investigation, significantly when undertaken by a authorities worker. Our dedication to uncovering the reality and following the details wherever they might lead is unwavering.”
Bahi’s legal criticism alleges that he organized a fundraiser on the Brooklyn headquarters of a building firm in December 2020, the place Bahi advised that the corporate’s proprietor have his workers make donations to Adams’ marketing campaign after which refund the employees for the $2,000 funds – a bit below the utmost allowed by any particular person donor within the metropolis.
4 workers and the proprietor made donations to the marketing campaign, with the employees’ funds reimbursed by the corporate, based on the criticism. All have subsequently spoken to legislation enforcement, and the proprietor admitted his involvement within the unlawful straw donations, based on prosecutors.
In his personal indictment, Adams can also be accused of knowingly accepting unlawful donations from straw donors – in his case, conspiring to take marketing campaign contributions from Turkish nationals and disguising the funds by routing them by means of U.S. residents. That enabled Adams to unlock public funds that present an eight-to-one match for small-dollar donations, prosecutors stated.
Bahi is charged with witness tampering and destruction of data, every of which is punishable by as much as 20 years in jail, based on prosecutors. He is the primary particular person apart from Adams to be charged within the investigation.
Bahi resigned Monday from his position Monday as Senior Liaison within the Neighborhood Affairs Unit. No cause was given for his departure however in a press release on the time, a Metropolis Corridor spokesperson despatched a press release thanking Bahi for his service. Data on a lawyer who might communicate on his behalf was not listed in an internet court docket docket.
Adams, a Democrat, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery prices in a five-count indictment outlining a decade-long path of corruption that started when he served as an elected official in Brooklyn and continued by means of his mayoral administration. The mayor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to remain in workplace.
“I’ll struggle these injustices with each ounce of my power and my spirit,” he stated on the time of his indictment calling the costs in opposition to him “based mostly on lies” and saying he was focused.
Bahi is anticipated to seem earlier than a federal Justice of the Peace in Manhattan on Tuesday.
At a listening to final week, Assistant U.S. Lawyer Hagan Scotten stated prosecutors are pursuing “a number of associated investigations” and that it’s “possible” further defendants will likely be charged and “potential” that extra prices will likely be introduced in opposition to Adams.
