A former aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams is accused of destroying evidence after the top lawmaker resigned

NEW YORK (AP) — A former New York official was charged Tuesday with witness tampering and destruction of evidence in a federal investigation that led to the bribery indictment of Mayor Eric Adams. The arrest came amid more high-profile departures from Adams’ administration as federal prosecutors delve deeper into allegations that the mayor was involved in a cover-up.

Mohamed Bahi, who resigned as Muslim community liaison on Monday, is accused of encouraging a businessman and campaign donor to lie to the FBI in June and deleting an encrypted messaging app from his cellphone just as FBI agents arrived to search his house in July. At one point, federal prosecutors said Bahi told the businessman that Adams believed the businessman would not cooperate with law enforcement.

At a news conference Tuesday, Adams denied encouraging anyone to lie. “I would never instruct anyone to do anything illegal or inappropriate,” he said.

Bahi, 40, of Staten Island, was arrested Tuesday and is expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan. Information about an attorney who could speak on his behalf was not listed in an online court filing.

Bahi is the first person, along with Adams, to be charged in the investigation. Adams praised him Tuesday as a “thoughtful” liaison who has worked to “really quiet the noise in some of the conflicts we’re seeing today.”

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that Bahi’s allegations “should leave no doubt about the seriousness of any effort to interfere in a federal investigation, particularly when undertaken by a government employee.”

“Our commitment to uncovering the truth and following the facts wherever they lead is unwavering,” Williams said.

In recent weeks, more than half a dozen of the mayor’s top aides have departed amid a barrage of searches and subpoenas, as Gov. Kathy Hochul continues to pressure Adams to restructure his administration and provide stability in city government.

In the latest high-profile resignation, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright submitted her resignation on Monday. Adams on Tuesday named Maria Torres-Springer, the deputy mayor for economic, housing and workforce development, as her successor.

Torres-Springer will conduct an immediate review of staffing, programs and policies, Adams said. The mayor denied that Hochul influenced or approved the election.

Adams called Wright a “constant, consistent supporter” and said she served New Yorkers well in his administration. “Sheena, good job. You make us all proud,” he said.

Wright’s representative declined to provide a reason for her resignation.

Wright’s departure came a day after Adams confirmed the resignations of her brother-in-law Philip Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety, and Winnie Greco, his director of Asian affairs, whose own fundraising efforts for the mayor have come under scrutiny. Last week he announced that schools Chancellor David Banks – Wright’s husband and Philip Banks’ brother – would be leaving later this month rather than at the end of the year as planned.

Police Commissioner Edward Caban and a senior mayoral aide, Timothy Pearson, also resigned. All of them had their devices confiscated by federal investigators. Each has denied wrongdoing.

Adams, a Democrat, has vowed to stay in office after pleading not guilty Sept. 27 to charges of accepting free or deeply discounted international flights, hotel stays, meals and entertainment worth about $100,000 and illegally had solicited campaign donations from representatives of Turkey and other foreign interests.

Adams’ office confirmed Monday that another employee, Rana Abbasova, had been fired. She served as the mayor’s director of protocol for international affairs, accompanied him on trips to Turkey and was involved in his fundraising. She has been on unpaid leave since the FBI raided her home last year. According to Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro, she is now a “key witness” for the prosecution.

Hochul, a Democrat who has the power to remove Adams from office, said last week she was working with the mayor to ensure key positions are filled “with people who will take responsibility.”

“We expect change, that’s no secret, and change is beginning,” Hochul said.

Bahi’s criminal complaint alleges that he organized a fundraiser for Adams at the headquarters of a construction company in Brooklyn in December 2020, where Bahi suggested to the company owner that his employees donate to Adams’ campaign and then made payments of $2,000 to the workers -Refund dollars – a little less than the maximum amount allowed by a single donor in the city.

Four employees and the owner donated to the campaign, with the workers’ payments reimbursed by the company, the complaint says. All subsequently spoke with law enforcement, and the owner admitted his involvement in the illegal straw donations, according to prosecutors.

His own indictment also accuses Adams of knowingly accepting illegal donations from straw donors – in his case, conspiring to accept campaign contributions from Turkish nationals and concealing the payments by routing them through U.S. citizens. This allowed Adams to release public funds that provided an eight-to-one ratio for small donations, prosecutors said.

While he insisted Tuesday that he had not instructed anyone to break the law, Adams did not respond when asked whether he had ever discussed straw donations with Bahi or Abbasova.

At a hearing last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten said prosecutors were pursuing “multiple related investigations” and that it was “likely” that additional defendants would be charged and that it was “possible” that additional charges would be filed against Adams would.

Bahi’s criminal complaint says federal and city authorities began investigating straw donations to the Adams campaign in 2021 when he was running for mayor while holding another elected office, that of Brooklyn borough president. Adams was sworn in as mayor in 2022.

Associated Press journalist Ruth Brown contributed to this report.