Federal authorities on Tuesday arrested a former aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams for allegedly destroying evidence and tampering with witnesses in a probe likely involving the mayor.
Mohamed Bahi, who was the mayor’s senior liaison to the Muslim community before he resigned this week, is accused of instructing witnesses to lie to federal investigators about a December 2020 fundraiser for Adams’ mayoral campaign, according to the federal complaint.
The charges are connected to an investigation into alleged “straw donor” practices, in which someone donates money to a political campaign under a nominal donor as a way to get around fundraising limits. If enough funds are donated, the candidate can receive matching public funds.
Adams was indicted in September on federal charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. He is cited as "Official-1" in the complaint.
When federal authorities raided the home of an unnamed businessman in the center of the straw donations scheme on July 13, 2024, the businessman called Bahi that day, according to the document.
The businessman is thought to be Tolib Mansurov of the United Elite Group, a real estate company that is building two buildings in Brooklyn.
That afternoon, Bahi met with Masurov and four other people who federal authorities said were donors to the Adams campaign to reassure them.
"Bahi advised the Businessman that if he continued to tell that lie to federal investigators the Businessman would be ok," the document stated.
The FBI also said Bahi deleted Signal, an encrypted messaging app he used to communicate with the mayor, from his phone around when the FBI searched his home and seized his device on July 24, 2024.
The FBI and the New York City Department of Investigation said they began looking into straw donations into Adams' mayoral campaign since in or about 2021, the document noted.
Bahi was released from custody after a court appearance Tuesday afternoon, various media outlets reported.
