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SAN FRANCISCO — As director of the Department of Public Works, Mohammed Nuru allegedly used his power and influence to give the owner of Lefty O’Doul’s restaurant an inside track for city contracts, including attempting to bribe an airport commissioner, federal authorities alleged in a criminal filing unsealed Tuesday.
Nuru, 58, also accepted lavish gifts from a billionaire Chinese developer, and contractors doing work for the city provided him free and discounted labor at his Colusa County vacation home, authorities said.
The allegations show “corruption pouring in to San Francisco from around the world,” David L. Anderson, U.S. Attorney of the Northern District Court, said Tuesday, adding that the charges against Nuru illustrate “bribery side deals by one of San Francisco’s highest-ranking employees.”
“Federal law gives the citizens of San Francisco the right to honest services from their public officials,” Anderson added. “San Francisco has been betrayed.”
The FBI arrested Nuru and Lefty O’Doul’s owner Nick Bovis, 57 of San Mateo, on Monday, a day before they both appeared in federal court in San Francisco to face charges of honest services wire fraud. FBI agents first arrested Nuru last week and he agreed to cooperate with the investigation but broke his deal by telling people about the probe, officials said. He faces an additional charge of lying to the FBI by telling agents he did not disclose the investigation when in fact he had.
FBI agents built the corruption case against Nuru and Bovis between 2018 and 2019, using “undercover employees,” confidential sources and wiretaps to uncover alleged bribery and kickback schemes related to contracts at San Francisco International Airport, the Transbay Transit Center and to provide toilets and shelter to the city’s homeless. The feds allege that the schemes were all designed to benefit Nuru and in most cases Bovis as well.
According to the federal complaint, in March 2018, Nuru allegedly used his connections to the Airport Commission, a five-member agency board appointed by the San Francisco mayor, to help rig Bovis’ bid for a concessions lease at the airport. Court records show the pair offered an unnamed airport commissioner — who Nuru helped get appointed to the commission — $5,000 and free travel in exchange for persuading two other commissioners to vote in favor of Bovis’ bid. Bovis and Nuru allegedly brought an envelope containing the cash to a dinner with the airport commissioner in April 2018. The bribe was never accepted, officials said.
In a similar scheme, Nuru used his position as chair of board of directors for the Transbay Joint Powers Authority in an attempt to get Bovis a commercial lease at the new Salesforce Transit Center. According to court records, in February 2019, Nuru also offered help in obtaining leases at the center to people who turned out to be confidential sources working with the FBI.
As the top official in charge of the $312 million city public works budget, Nuru oversaw projects proposed by wealthy developers as well as services for the city’s most vulnerable populations. Nuru is also accused of helping Bovis with his bids to operate public toilets and temporary shelters to help the city’s homeless.
A billionaire Chinese developer proposing a multi-million-dollar mixed-use project in San Francisco allegedly showered Nuru with hotel stays, a $2,000 bottle of wine and other gifts. After a trip to China in November 2018, Nuru sent an encrypted “thank you” message to the billionaire, identified in court records as “Developer 1.”
“Thank you very much for all your generosity while we were in China,” Nuru wrote, according to the FBI. “We had a great vacation … I will do my very best to see your project gets completed. Look forward to seeing you in San Francisco when you come.”
Nuru, who goes by @MrCleanSF on Twitter, also oversees the design and construction of city facilities and 1,600 employees. He was picked to lead the public works department in 2012 by former San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee in 2012. He was first appointed as deputy director under Lee, who ran the department before becoming mayor.
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney, who as a representative of District 6 — which includes the Tenderloin neighborhood — and who has often sparred with Nuru, said the allegations reinforce the need for more accountability and oversight of the public works department.
“Decisions were made by him and him alone,” Haney said Tuesday. “There was no where else to turn because he wielded so much power in that department. People are afraid of him. If you were on his good side, he’d keep your street clean. If not, good luck. That is not how government should work.”
Nuru has been released from custody after posting a $2 million bond Tuesday. If convicted of the felony charge, he and Bovis each face 20 years in federal prison. They are both scheduled to return to federal court on Feb. 6.
