The Annotated Mohammed Nuru FBI Arrest Complaint (San Francisco Public Works Department Director)
“I would like to operate the Little Puffer steam train at the San Francisco Zoo. You get to be outdoors, see the animals and make people, especially kids, happy.” — Mohammed Nuru (source)
Update: Nuru has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Well known as an affable, rotund figure who was a team player with the agendas of the wealthy and powerful, Mohammed Nuru was arrested once, released so that the sting operation could continue and then re-arrested when he blabbed to City Administrator Naomi Kelly about the investigation. She then informed on him, and he was re-arrested, and, this time, the arrest was announced and then detailed in the two documents that form the basis of this annotated work.
Shortly after his arrest, Mayor London Breed — who was a former paramour of Nuru and who has repeatedly named him as a role model — disclosed that he had loaned her money to get her car repaired. (As to why she could not afford that, given that she is the best paid mayor in the United States) remains a mystery.
Even more a mystery is how Nuru survived this long, given the controversies that have long swirled around him, the SLUG scandal for example. Indeed, in March 2019, Susan Dyer-Reynolds had called for him to be “swept to the curb” in an editorial in the Marina Times.
We begin with the first complaint:
As we have said, Nuru talked to Naomi Kelly about the FBI arrest, and she passed the word around.
Here the indictment talks about an attempt to bribe an airport commissioner who mysteriously retired following the arrest.
The following paragraph appeared opaque when first released, but clarification was gained following the revelation of a further scandal regarding Bovis’s “nonprofit” and those who donated to it. Kudos to Joe Fitzgerald-Rodriguez for this great story.
“Emails show that at least three companies with city contracts directly influenced by Nuru — Webcor, Recology and Pankow — donated thousands of dollars to Bovis’ Lefty O’Doul’s Foundation for Kids in 2017. Funds from that nonprofit charity were then used to pay for an opulent annual holiday party for Public Works employees. That party was thrown by Bovis himself, who then sent an invoice to Public Works.”
It is pretty amazing that Bovis suspected an FBI sting underway!
Moving on….
This part of the complaint seemed to be a bit of a mystery at first. Then it was revealed that DEVELOPER 1 is Zhang Li. This was disclosed after the offices of infamous permit “expediter” Walter Wong (himself the subject of an investigative news story in the San Francisco Chronicle by Susan Sward nearly two decades ago) were raided by the City Attorney’s office.
Then there was the scam involving trailers for the unhoused:
And the way in which contractors — who must have been more than busy at the time, given the construction boom — drove to Nuru’s remote ranch to do work at a highly favorable rate:
Then there was the plan to provide Bovis and his chicken restaurant with a spot at the airport. (Bovis must be happy now, in retrospect, that this fell through).
And Bovis raves about Nuru to the FBI:
It is unclear what relationship Bovis had with the late Mayor Ed Lee.
Nuru served under Lee at DPW.
Who was the “famous lawyer”? And who might be the former elected official?
More about the airport commissioner and the mysterious lawyer:
Being the chair of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority gave Nuru superpowers:
And he was more than willing to exercise those powers to advantage:
It sounds as if some financial deals have gone down, under the table, with the commissioner and Nuru in the past:
More suspicions about an FBI sting:
And a conversation with Walter Wong:
“He gave us some stone.” Unreported, of course. US$10,000 Maotai and a bottle of French wine worth thousands. (Nuru does a web search!)
And what is with the trip with “grandma”?
Looks as if just the tip of the iceberg has been revealed so far:
This is more of the story about 555 Fulton:
Nuru thanks his hosts and assures him the bribes were effective:
An “issue” with the glass at the beleaguered 555 Fulton Street:
Nuru attempts to avoid “raising red flags”:
Bovis again worries about the FBI:
The connection between the architect and Nuru here is unclear:
“Painted Ladies” bathrooms for the unhoused.
“We’ll let homeless sleep in it and test it out.”
“I’m already moving money around.”
We learn that a bid is “a formality.”
“The city changed financial systems.”
Nuru eats for free at Bovis’s Broadway Grill:
Nuru is unwilling to have Bovis come to his office.
And who is the mysterious lady he is in contact with?
What project for Bovis is GIRLFRIEND 1 (Sandra Zuniga) involved in?
Where was the casino to be?
Walter Wong was involved in the renovations on Nuru’s Mendecino estate.
And who is DPW EMPLOYEE 6? Has he been fired? Suspended even?
And we save the best for last: Sandra Zuniga tells Nuru “what’s gonna get you in the end.”
POSTSCRIPT: Giant of gentrification, Parks Alliance, has been revealed to have a connection with a DPW slush fund. And a Recology exec has been arrested.
