A former senior aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams has admitted in federal court to arranging straw donations for Adams’ mayoral bid, a case that once overlapped with corruption allegations against the mayor himself, before the Trump administration stepped in to halt those charges.
Mohamed Bahi, the mayor’s onetime chief liaison to the Muslim community, confessed on Tuesday that he orchestrated illegal contributions from employees of a Brooklyn construction company during a December 2020 fundraiser. The donations, he told the judge, were intended to be matched with public campaign funds despite his knowing the donors would be reimbursed.
“I understood that the Adams campaign would then seek matching funds for those donations,” Bahi said. “I knew the employees would be reimbursed and that it was wrong.”
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Bahi, 41, was indicted last October on charges that also included witness tampering and evidence destruction as part of a wide-ranging probe into Adams’ fundraising network. That investigation culminated in the mayor’s indictment over a separate scheme involving alleged bribes and foreign contributions. At the time, prosecutors hinted that “several related investigations” could lead to more arrests.
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But in February, the Justice Department abruptly ordered prosecutors to drop the charges against Adams, citing concerns that the case was undermining his ability to aid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The intervention triggered resignations among senior prosecutors, including Manhattan’s interim U.S. attorney, who accused the mayor of striking a quid pro quo deal with Trump.
While Adams has denied wrongdoing and vowed to run for re-election as an independent, uncertainty still surrounds multiple ongoing probes into his allies and campaign operation. Federal agents have seized devices from top city officials, including the police commissioner and several deputy mayors, but have not disclosed whether more charges are forthcoming.
Another figure in the fundraising network, construction company owner Erden Arkan, pleaded guilty in January to channeling illegal contributions to Adams and is scheduled for sentencing this week.
Bahi will be sentenced November 17 for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a charge carrying a maximum five-year prison term. He and his attorney declined comment as they left the courthouse. Officials from the U.S. attorney’s office and the mayor’s administration also did not respond to requests for comment, AP reported.
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