NYC: Ex-Adams aide Mohamed Bahi charged with destroying evidence, witness tampering in Turkey probe

Chris Sommerfeldt, Molly Crane-Newman and Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News on Oct 8, 2024

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NEW YORK — Mohamed Bahi, a staffer in Mayor Eric Adams’ community affairs unit who resigned Monday, has been indicted on federal charges alleging he destroyed evidence and tampered with witnesses in the ongoing corruption investigation into the mayor’s Turkish government ties.

The indictment, unsealed Tuesday by prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, alleges Bahi this past June met with an unnamed businessman who’s a donor to Adams and hosted a fundraiser for his first mayoral campaign in December 2020.

As part of the fundraiser, four unidentified employees of the businessman’s construction firm made illegal straw donations to the mayor’s campaign, according to Bahi’s indictment.

But in June’s meeting, Bahi instructed the businessman and his four employees to lie to federal investigators about the monetary 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,” the indictment alleges.

The feds also say Bahi committed a crime when FBI agents showed up at his home on July 24 to execute a search warrant and seize his electronics.

According to the indictment, Bahi deleted the encrypted messaging app Signal from his cellphone upon the feds’ arrival. The indictment alleges the app had evidence on it pertinent to the Turkey investigation, including messages exchanged with the mayor.

Bahi abruptly resigned from his City Hall job in the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit on Monday.

“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,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, who’s leading the Adams-Turkey investigation, said in a statement. “Our commitment to uncovering the truth and following the facts wherever they may lead is unwavering.”

Adams was indicted as part of the same investigation last month on charges alleging he solicited and accepted bribes from Turkish government operatives in exchange for political favors. He has pleaded not guilty.

Bahi was expected to be arraigned on the witness tampering and evidence destruction charges later Tuesday in Manhattan Federal Court.

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