Mohamed Bahi, who resigned from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration on Monday, was detained Tuesday on charges of hindering the investigation into the mayor and his campaign.
He is accused of witness tampering and evidence destruction. He appeared briefly before a federal magistrate on Tuesday afternoon and was freed on a $250,000 bond. He did not have to enter a plea. The arrest occurred amid an ongoing exodus of top Adams administration officials as federal prosecutors investigate charges that the mayor was using personnel to cover up crimes.
According to the federal complaint, Bahi, 40, allegedly instructed Adams campaign donors to lie to the FBI before deleting Signal from his phone as agents arrived to search his home. In addition to the bond, Bahi must surrender his passport, remain in the five boroughs, Long Island and New Jersey, and avoid contact with witnesses or the mayor. The judge ordered him to look for work as well.
Bahi worked as a senior liaison in the Adams administration’s community affairs office until his departure on Monday. He previously held a 2020 fundraiser for Adams’ mayoral campaign in the Brooklyn offices of a construction company. According to prosecutors, four employees submitted contributions under their names, but the company’s CEO sponsored those payments. According to the lawsuit, Bahi met with the construction firm executive and his employee donors and urged them to lie to the FBI. A month later, in July, when the FBI arrived at Bahi’s house with a search warrant, he erased Signal from his phone, the program he used to communicate with Adams.
Bahi is the first individual charged in the inquiry, aside from Adams. Adams lauded him on Tuesday as a “thoughtful” liaison who helped to “really bring down the noise in some of the conflicts we’re seeing today.”
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Bahi’s accusations “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 steadfast,” Williams informed us.
