Mohamed Bahi, ex-NYC official, charged with destroying evidence, witness tampering, federal prosecutors say

An ex-New York City liaison for the Muslim community was charged on Tuesday with destroying evidence and witness tampering in the ongoing federal investigation into foreign campaign contributions and straw donors in Mayor Eric Adams' 2021 campaign, federal prosecutors said.

Mohamed Bahi, 40, a senior liaison in the Community Affairs Unit, who resigned on Monday, helped coordinate straw donations from the owner and employees of a Brooklyn construction company to Adams' election campaign, FBI Special Agent Jacob Balog said in an affidavit.

When it became clear that federal investigators were on to the alleged scheme, he pressured donors to lie to authorities, according to the indictment, and then deleted the encrypted message app he used to communicate with campaign contributors from his phone.

Bahi is charged with one count of witness tampering and one count of destruction of records, which each carry a 20-year maximum penalty.

The allegations against Bahi mirror federal fraud and bribery charges against Adams, which were unsealed on Sept. 26. In the indictment against the mayor, federal prosecutors describe a construction company CEO in Brooklyn who attempted to give $10,000 to Adams’ 2021 election campaign to "increase his influence."

Instead, Bahi allegedly instructed that the business owner and four employees each give $2,000 with the understanding that the workers would be reimbursed, according to the former City Hall staffer's indictment.

On June 13, federal investigators raided the businessman’s company as part of their three-year investigation into the mayor's campaign donations. Later that day, Bahi met with the owner and his four employees to tell them to deny the illicit donations, officials said. Investigators said that Bahi told the mayor that the business owner would not cooperate with authorities.

"Bahi advised the business owner that if he continued to tell that lie to federal investigators the business owner would be OK," according to the criminal complaint. Bahi took a photo of the federal search warrant served on the men and allegedly told them that if they continued to lie to the FBI, there would be no way for investigators to prove the alleged fraud, prosecutors charge.

A little more than a week after the raid on the Brooklyn construction company, Bahi deleted the app Signal, an encrypted messaging application, from his cellphone when agents raided his Staten Island home, according to court papers. He had used the app to communicate with the business owner, the FBI alleges.

Bahi did not enter a plea at his arraignment Tuesday afternoon. He was released on a $250,000 personal recognizance bond by Manhattan federal Judge Robert Lehrburger, who ordered him not to speak with co-conspirators and to stay within the boundaries of Long Island, New York City and New Jersey. His attorney Kevin Puvalowski declined to comment.

Adams sought to defend Bahi's work in City Hall and denied that he had any role in the alleged illegal acts.

"I will never instruct anyone to do anything illegal or improper," the mayor said at his weekly news conference. "The only instruction I give people all the time. Follow the law. Follow the law is my number one instruction that I give people. Anything other than that, I don't give people illegal information."

Adams said that Bahi was one of his top contacts with the city's Muslim community even before he became mayor.

"I always found him to be thoughtful. I always found him to be willing to go into all the communities. But what he has done is really bring down the noise in some of the conflicts we're seeing today," the mayor said.

At least four sprawling investigations by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Brooklyn have upended the Adams administration and prompted many of his top officials to resign, including First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright on Tuesday.

Fabien Levy, spokesman for the mayor, said that Bahi and Winnie Greco, who worked as a liaison with the city’s Chinese community, resigned on Monday.

"We thank them for their service to the city," he told Newsday.

With Matthew Chayes