Former Adams aide Mohamed Bahi charged in NYC City Hall federal corruption investigation

Mohamed Bahi, a staffer in Mayor Adams’ office who resigned Monday , has been hit with criminal charges alleging he destroyed evidence and tampered with witnesses in the ongoing federal corruption investigation that resulted in the mayor’s indictment last month.

Bahi was arrested at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday and presented on witness tampering and destruction of evidence charges brought by the FBI hours later in Manhattan Federal Court. Prosecutors agreed to his release on a $250,000 bond, and no plea was entered during the brief proceeding.

A criminal complaint unsealed ahead of Bahi’s appearance by prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office — which is prosecuting the mayor and investigating him and several of his associates alongside the FBI and the city Department of Investigation — alleges he worked with a New York businessman to funnel illegal donations to Adams’ campaign in December 2020.

The businessman isn’t named in the complaint, but a Daily News review of campaign finance documents and court and property records confirms he is Tolib Mansurov, owner of United Elite Group, a Manhattan construction company.

As part of a December 2020 fundraiser, Mansurov and four United Elite Group employees donated $2,000 each to Adams’ 2021 campaign. But the feds say that, at Bahi’s urging, the four employees donated to Adams using Mansurov’s money — an illegal practice known as straw donating.

Mansurov — who sought help directly from Adams with Buildings Department issues once Adams became mayor — was raided by federal authorities this past June. Shortly after that raid, prosecutors allege that Bahi met with Mansurov and instructed him and his four employees to lie to federal investigators about the source of their contributions to Adams.

“During the meeting between Bahi, the businessman, and the four donors, Bahi encouraged the donors to lie to federal investigators by denying that they had made straw donations to the 2021 [Adams] campaign, and remarked that because the donors’ contributions to the 2021 [Adams] campaign had been reimbursed in cash, the FBI would be unable to prove that the reimbursements had occurred,” FBI Special Agent Jacob Balog alleged in the complaint.

The next day, Bahi again met with Mansurov. In that meeting, prosecutors say Bahi told Mansurov the mayor “believed” that Mansurov “would not cooperate with law enforcement.”

The FBI alleges Mansurov and his four employees initially denied in interviews with investigators that they played a role in illegal Adams campaign contributions but later agreed to talk to law enforcement “in the hopes of receiving leniency in connection with this investigation.” Mansurov has admitted to his role in the straw donations.

A call to Mansurov wasn’t immediately returned Tuesday, and a receptionist at United Elite Group said he was “not in the office.” The United Elite Group’s website has been deactivated since Friday.

The feds say Bahi also destroyed evidence. When they turned up at his home on July 24 at 6 a.m., nobody came to the door, and Bahi did not answer his phone. They then called his former spouse, who initially said she wasn’t home but later came to the door, refusing to open it.

A short while later, Bahi approached the door and let the feds in. When agents said they’d been trying to reach him, he took his phone out of his pocket, and agents immediately seized it. He claimed he’d been using it for personal use and planned to travel to Egypt that night.

The indictment alleges that Bahi, at that point, didn’t have the Signal messaging app on his phone — despite having used it hours earlier, indicating he deleted it between midnight and the 6 a.m. raid.

According to the FBI, the app had evidence pertinent to the investigation, including messages Bahi exchanged directly with the mayor. Some deleted messages included ones Bahi exchanged with Adams while he traveled to Egypt and Yemen this past February.

On Monday, Bahi abruptly resigned from his job as a senior Muslim liaison in the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit.

In a press conference at City Hall, after Bahi’s complaint was unsealed, Adams was asked whether he instructed him to commit crimes.

“I will never instruct anyone to do anything illegal or improper,” he replied. He also praised Bahi as “thoughtful” and said he “delivered for New Yorkers and I thank him for that.”

In a statement, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Bahi sought “to conceal unlawful activity and create unnecessary obstacles for those working to uncover the truth.”

“The charges unsealed today should leave no doubt about the seriousness of any effort to interfere with a federal investigation, particularly when undertaken by a government employee,” Williams said.

Adams was indicted on charges stemming from the ongoing investigation last month, alleging he solicited and accepted bribes from Turkish government operatives and others in exchange for political favors. He has pleaded not guilty to bribery, fraud, conspiracy and soliciting illegal donations from foreign nationals.

Adams’ indictment mainly focuses on allegations he took bribes and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish nationals and then sought to carry out favors for the Turkish government, like helping it resolve building safety violations at its Manhattan consulate.

However, the indictment also references Mansurov and mentions that although he’s “not part of New York’s Turkish community, his contributions were sought and made for similar reasons to the many Turkish nationals.”

Specifically, prosecutors allege Mansurov — who was previously identified by Gothamist in the context of Adams’ indictment — told the mayor in a text on Feb. 5, 2023, that he had “always supported you,” but was “having a hard time” with the Department of Buildings related to permits for a luxury condo building his firm was constructing in Brooklyn.

“Let me look into this,” Adams texted back, according to court papers.

About a week and a half later, the Buildings Department lifted a stop-work order on Mansurov’s project.

“Mayor, brother I want to thank you for your help. DOB issue partially resolved and they promised to expedite the process. Thank you, you have my continued support,” Mansurov texted Adams after the stop-work order was lifted, prosecutors say.

Records show that on June 13, 2023, Mansurov donated another $1,000 to Adams’ reelection campaign.

The Bahi complaint comes as Adams’ administration remains in a state of crisis.

In the past month, at least 11 high-profile administration officials have resigned or been fired, most of them after getting their homes raided and electronics seized by federal authorities conducting multiple different corruption investigations. In addition to the Turkey inquiry, the feds are looking at whether top Adams administration officials were engaged in schemes involving influence peddling, kickbacks on city contracts and NYPD nightlife enforcement abuse.