Details emerge in FBI's case against SF Director of Public Works, Lefty O'Doul's owner

San Francisco's Director of Public Works Mohammed Nuru, 58, and Lefty O’Doul’s owner Nick Bovis, 57, were charged in a criminal complaint with honest services wire fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to attempt to bribe a San Francisco Airport Commissioner, United States Attorney David Anderson announced at a press conference.

“The complaint describes a web of corruption involving bribery, kickbacks, and side deals by one of San Francisco’s highest-ranking city employees,” Anderson said in a statement. "The public is entitled to honest work from public officials, free from manipulation for the official’s own personal benefit and profit.”

The defendants both appeared in federal court today and were arraigned and released, each on a $2 million bond. If convicted, they face a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison.

Nuru was initially arrested on this charge on Jan. 21, and said he would cooperate with FBI officials and agreed to not tamper with or disclose the investigation. He was arrested again yesterday for violating those terms.

The main scheme described by the FBI involves the attempted alleged bribery of an unnamed SFO commissioner in exchange for a restaurant contract at the airport. According to the complaint, Nuru and Bovis schemed to give the unnamed commissioner $5,000 and free travel so that she would vote to approve a contract for Bovis' restaurant Spinnerie. The complaint records multiple conversations between Bovis and an undercover FBI employee who was posing as a friend of a lender. The criminal complaint against Nuru states the unnamed commissioner declined the money, and the contract was never awarded to Bovis.

There is at least one indication Bovis was getting suspicious of this "friend."

"Well, in my brain, what if this is some sort of FBI sting or something?" Bovis reportedly said to the undercover FBI employee.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/FBI-SF-Director-of-Public-Works-Nuro-Mohammed-15010530.php