Mayor Eric Adams speaks to the press during the weekly briefing at the City Hall about the ongoing programs in New York City.
Lev Radin | Lightrocket | Getty Images
A former New York City official, who until Monday worked in the Adams administration, has been arrested and charged with witness tampering and obstruction of justice, according to federal prosecutors.
In a new complaint from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors allege Mohamed Bahi, 40, organized fundraisers for Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 campaign and accepted straw donations. Prosecutors say Bahi obstructed the federal investigation into those donations by deleting the encrypted messaging app Signal from his cellphone when FBI agents arrived at his house in July 2024 with a search warrant.
Bahi is also accused of ordering “third parties” to lie to federal agents and did so after meeting with “OFFICIAL-1,” Adams, according to the complaint.
“As alleged, Mohamed Bahi obstructed a federal criminal investigation by instructing witnesses to lie and then destroying evidence,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. 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. Our commitment to uncovering the truth and following the facts wherever they may lead is unwavering.”
Read more from NBC New York:
Bahi’s criminal complaint alleges that he organized a fundraiser at the Brooklyn headquarters of a construction company in December 2020, where Bahi suggested that the company’s owner have his employees make donations to Adams’ campaign and then refund the workers for the $2,000 payments – a little under the maximum allowed by any individual donor in the city.
Four employees and the owner made donations to the campaign, with the workers’ payments reimbursed by the company, according to the complaint. All have subsequently spoken to law enforcement, and the owner admitted his involvement in the illegal straw donations, according to prosecutors.
In his own indictment, Adams is also accused of knowingly accepting illegal donations from straw donors – in his case, conspiring to take campaign contributions from Turkish nationals and disguising the payments by routing them through U.S. citizens. That enabled Adams to unlock public funds that provide an eight-to-one match for small-dollar donations, prosecutors said.
Bahi is charged with witness tampering and destruction of records, each of which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, according to prosecutors. He’s the first person other than Adams to be charged in the investigation.
Mohamed Bahi appears, alongside his defense lawyer Kevin Puvalowski, before United States Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger on charges of witness tampering and destroying evidence in connection with the prosecutors’ investigation of illegal donations to the 2021 Eric Adams mayoral campaign, at Federal Court in New York City, U.S., October 8, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
Bahi resigned Monday from his role Monday as Senior Liaison in the Community Affairs Unit. No reason was given for his departure but in a statement at the time, a City Hall spokesperson sent a statement thanking Bahi for his service. Information on a lawyer who could speak on his behalf was not listed in an online court docket.
Adams, a Democrat, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment outlining a decade-long trail of corruption that began when he served as an elected official in Brooklyn and continued through his mayoral administration. The mayor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to stay in office.
“I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit,” he said at the time of his indictment calling the charges against him “based on lies” and saying he was targeted.
Bahi is expected to appear before a federal magistrate in Manhattan on Tuesday.
At a hearing last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten said prosecutors are pursuing “several related investigations” and that it is “likely” additional defendants will be charged and “possible” that more charges will be brought against Adams.
