Former State Department Employee Sentenced To Prison For Honest Services Fraud

 

Defendant Provided Confidential Bidding Information to a Bidder and Received Lucrative Kickback Payments in Return

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MAY SALEHI, a former State Department employee, was sentenced today to 12 months in prison for conspiring to commit honest services fraud.  SALEHI was a longtime State Department employee who was involved in evaluating bids for critical overseas government construction projects such as U.S. embassies and consulates.  SALEHI gave confidential inside bidding information to a Government contractor, and received $60,000 in kickback payments in return. SALEHI was sentenced by United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “As a State Department employee, May Salehi was entrusted to serve the public.  Instead, she abused her position to line her own pockets.  Salehi revealed, and traded on, confidential information—corrupting the bidding process and receiving lucrative kickbacks in return.  Thanks to our partners at the State Department’s Office of Inspector General, Salehi’s crime of deception has been uncovered, and Salehi has now been sentenced to prison.”

According to the allegations in the Information, court filings, and statements made in court:

From 1991 until mid-2021, MAY SALEHI was a State Department employee.  For many years, SALEHI worked as an engineer in the State Department’s Overseas Building Operations division (“OBO”), which directs the worldwide overseas building program for the State Department and the U.S. Government community serving abroad. 

In 2016, the State Department solicited bids for a multimillion-dollar construction project known as a compound security upgrade to be performed at the U.S. Consulate in Bermuda (the “Bermuda Project”).  The bidding process involved the submission of blind, sealed bids from various bidders.  Six companies submitted sealed bids, one of which was named Montage, Inc. (“Montage”). 

SALEHI was involved in the Bermuda Project in several respects.  Among other things, SALEHI served as the Chair of the Technical Evaluation Panel (“TEP”)—a panel of experts that evaluates the technical aspects of bids, including whether they meet the State Department’s structural and security needs.  In connection with the Bermuda Project, the TEP determined that five bids—including Montage’s bid—were technically acceptable.

In September 2016, the State Department’s employees who evaluate the cost of bids gave these five bidders—including Montage—the opportunity to re-bid, if they wished to do so.  Montage had two days to decide whether to submit a re-bid.  During that two-day window, Montage’s principal, Sina Moayedi, contacted SALEHI by phone to seek confidential inside bidding information about the relationship between Montage’s bid and those of its competitors.  SALEHI agreed to meet Moayedi in person during the work day.  In response to Moayedi’s inquiry, SALEHI told him that all five bids were low, and that his bid was lowest by about a million dollars.  Moayedi said that he would give SALEHI 1% of the contract value if he won; and as she walked away, SALEHI proposed a cover story by stating: “I have rugs to sell.”  SALEHI knew that it was unlawful to provide this confidential bidding information to a bidder.  After Moayedi received this inside information from SALEHI, Montage immediately increased its bid by nearly $1 million.  In its revised bid to the State Department, Moayedi and Montage lied as to the reason it had increased its bid by nearly $1 million, falsely claiming that it had discovered “an arithmetic error” in its estimates.  Montage was ultimately awarded the Bermuda Project with a revised bid of $6.3 million. 

In the months that followed, Moayedi provided SALEHI a total of $60,000 in kickbacks, which he paid in three installments.  In making these kickback payments, Moayedi used intermediaries to obscure the link between him and SALEHI.  To conceal the true purpose of the kickback payments, as she had suggested, SALEHI gave Moayedi a Persian rug, by providing it to an intermediary who passed it to Moayedi.  SALEHI did not report the $60,000 kickback payments on her taxes, her State Department financial disclosure forms, or her application to renew her top-secret national security clearance.

In addition to her prison sentence, SALEHI, 66, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to three years of supervised release.  SALEHI was also ordered to forfeit $60,000 and to pay a $500,000 Fine.

Sina Moayedi has been charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and major fraud against the United States.  The charges against Moayedi are pending.  See 22 Cr. 188 (JSR).

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the State Department OIG, Special Agents from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and IRS‑CI. 

Governor Hochul Announces Historic $20 Billion Multi-Year Healthcare Investment in FY 2023 Budget

 

Invests $7.7 Billion to Increase Home Care Worker Minimum Wage by $3 

$1.2 Billion Directed to Bonuses for Frontline Health Care Workers 

$2.4 Billion Investment in Healthcare Infrastructure      

Expands Medicaid Eligibility for Low Income New Yorkers with Disabilities, and Age 65 and Up Including Undocumented 

Extend Medicaid Coverage from 60 days to One Year Postpartum for All Pregnant Individuals 

5.4 Percent Cost of Living Adjustment for Human Services Workers 

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a historic $20 billion, multi-year healthcare investment in the FY 2023 State Budget. Creating better working conditions for healthcare workers will be a priority, with $1.2 billion dedicated to frontline healthcare worker bonuses, as well as a $4.5 billion multi-year investment in payment reform. Other landmark investments include $2.4 billion being directed to improving healthcare infrastructure and $3.9 billion in funding to provide aid to hospitals struggling financially from the COVID-19 pandemic. Another $7.7 billion will be spent over four years to increase the home care worker minimum wage by $3. These groundbreaking investments will work together to improve working conditions and grow the workforce by 20 percent over the next five years, and improve the healthcare industry for all New Yorkers. 

"New York depends on a strong, stable and equitable health care system and at the very foundation are the industry's workers, who've been asked to do the impossible and are continuing to do so two years after the start of the pandemic," Governor Hochul said. "This Budget includes historic investments that will rebuild the health care economy by raising health care worker's pay, improving their workplace infrastructure and providing incentives that will attract more people to the workforce. I thank Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie for their work to ensure we are building the health care economy of the future." 

Over $5 billion dollars of this funding will be dedicated to pay reform and bonus wages for healthcare workers. This includes $1.2 billion going towards healthcare and mental hygiene worker retention bonuses, with up to $3,000 bonuses going to workers earning less than $125,000 who remain in their positions for one year, and pro-rated bonuses for those working fewer hours. $500 million will be dedicated to cost-of-living adjustments to raise wages for human services workers. The Budget also includes a 5.4 percent cost of living adjustment for human services workers. 

Healthcare infrastructure improvements are essential to not only improving the work environment for healthcare workers, but drastically improving patient care and wait times. The Budget establishes a new $2.4 billion investment for the purpose of financing infrastructure improvements for hospitals, nursing homes, ambulatory care centers, community-based centers and other eligible healthcare facilities and providers. In addition to this, $3.9 billion in funding over four years -- an 88 percent increase over the prior four years - will be dedicated to providing aid to hospitals still struggling financially from the COVID-19 pandemic.  

To increase coverage and affordability for seniors, the Enacted Budget raises the income limit for New Yorkers 65 and up and for those with disabilities to 138% of the federal poverty level, raises the income limit for the Medicare Savings Program, and expands coverage for undocumented individuals 65 and up.    

New York State is committed to addressing structural and institutional inequalities in the healthcare to create a safer birth experience for all mothers and families across the state, including those who are undocumented. The Budget will include over $20 million in annual investments designed to expand access to holistic prenatal and postnatal care to reduce racial inequities and make quality care accessible for all mothers. The state will expand postpartum coverage for all individuals eligible for Medicaid while pregnant from 60 days to one year after they give birth, leading to more equitable health outcomes across the state. 

MAYOR ADAMS ANNOUNCES 100 DAYS OF GETTING STUFF DONE FOR NEW YORKERS

 

First 100 Days Include Significant Steps Towards Creating a Safer and More Just City, Supporting Vulnerable New Yorkers, Building an Inclusive Economy, Fueling Job Growth for Young People, Investing in Infrastructure, and Expanding Opportunities for Students

 On his 100^th day in office, New York City Mayor Eric Adams today released a list of key accomplishments, demonstrating ways in which his administration has worked to ‘Get Stuff Done’ for New Yorkers. Since being sworn in on January 1^st, Mayor Adams has focused on delivering results and addressing the most pressing challenges facing New York City.

 

“When I became mayor, I made a simple promise to New Yorkers to ‘Get Stuff Done,’ and we’ve done just that over the last 100 days,” said Mayor Adams. “Since January, my administration has lived up to our promise to New Yorkers, addressing the issues that matter the most to our city’s residents, from fighting the epidemic of gun violence to giving our kids and youth access to better jobs and educational opportunities. Our work is far from over, but we will continue to push forward an agenda that meets the needs of each and every New Yorker every single day.”

 

Highlights from Mayor Adams’ first 100 days in office include:

 

Making New York City Safer and Protecting New Yorkers’ Quality of Life:

 

• Launched a nine-point Subway Safety Plan that expands response teams and mental health services, adds trained clinicians to connect people with resources, and directs New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers to enforce MTA rules. Uniformed officers are deployed into the transit system daily, conducting station inspections and platform patrols. More than 256,000 subway inspections were conducted between January 6 and April 9.

 

• Created a Blueprint to End Gun Violence that refocuses the NYPD on the individuals responsible for the majority of shootings in the city and the sources of guns in the five boroughs, empowers violence interrupters, provides jobs and enrichment programming for at-risk youth, expands mental health care, and improves collaboration between the city, state, and federal government.

 

• Launched the first wave of Neighborhood Safety Teams focused on combating gun violence, which in their first three weeks of operation made 132 arrests and recovered more than 25 guns. Of those arrested, 73 were previously arrested on a serious criminal charge, 20 have some involvement with a gang or crew, and 21 are on parole or probation.

 

• Implemented a new Citywide Crime and Quality of Life Enforcement Initiative focused on the 17 precincts that account for almost half of the city’s shootings. Under the initiative, Neighborhood Safety Teams will work seamlessly with neighborhood and youth coordination officers, as well as with the field intelligence officers who focus on identifying the locations and individual drivers of violent crime in each command.

 

• Advanced the Gun Violence Strategies Partnership, which facilitates real-time communication and information sharing across law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies at the city, state, and federal level, focusing on the worst gun offenders in New York City.

 

• Launched a multi-agency initiative aimed at the revitalization and restoration of the 125^th Street corridor, to address concerns voiced by local merchants and commerce organizations regarding deteriorating social conditions.

 

• Kicked off Saturday Night Lights, a youth development initiative that provides free sports programs for over 3,000 young people every Saturday night at 106 gyms across the city.

 

• Launched a series of new initiatives with the White House and the U.S. Department of Justice dedicated to tackling the gun violence crisis, including a major commitment of federal resources.

 

• Signed an executive order increasing coordination between Fire Department and Department of Housing Preservation and Development inspectors to identify safety violations earlier and increase fire safety compliance.

Supporting Vulnerable New Yorkers:

• Connected more than 300 unhoused New Yorkers to shelter during just the first month of targeted subway outreach.

 

• Opened over 400 total safe haven and stabilization beds since January 1st, expanding high-quality shelter access and services for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.

 

• Partnered with New York state to launch Safe Options Support Teams, trained mental health staff that will help bring unsheltered New Yorkers into stable housing.

 

• Completed the first portion of an enhanced effort to connect New Yorkers living on the streets and experiencing homelessness with social services and clean up public spaces across the five boroughs.

 

• Surged resources to the city’s Tenant Helpline and launched a campaign to help protect tenants from eviction.

 

• Provided financial relief to New Yorkers impacted by the Twin Parks fire.

 

• Fought for a change to state law that would restore access to the federal tax deduction for New York City personal income taxes for approximately 100,000 New Yorkers.

 

• Filed a city lawsuit against a building owner who has amassed more than 1,900 violations across 15 buildings he owns throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. The suit seeks to compel property repairs or impose civil penalties.

 

• Announced settlements in cases targeting an illegal hotel operator on the Upper West Side and a slumlord in Crown Heights, paving the way for the creation of affordable housing for low-income and formerly homeless New Yorkers.
  
  

Getting New Yorkers Back to Work With an Inclusive Economic Recovery:

 

• Released Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent: A Blueprint for New York City’s Economic Recovery, with more than 70 concrete initiatives, including:

 

• Major new capital investments in the Hunts Point Terminal Market and surrounding community to support modernization of critical food supply facilities and help the neighborhood thrive.

 

• Providing small businesses much-needed relief by cutting opening times in half, suspending the city’s 25 percent surcharge on liquor licenses, streamlining inspections, and reforming licensing requirements.

 

• Launching the Small Business Opportunity Fund to meet the financing needs of historically underserved local businesses and entrepreneurs.

 

• Strengthening the city’s commercial corridors across the five boroughs by investing in small Business Improvement Districts, merchant associations, and public realm improvements.

 

• Reforming and expanding the city’s Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE) program to increase the number and size of city contracts going to M/WBE firms, help these firms grow, and support M/WBEs that have not sufficiently benefited from this program.

 

• Expanding the city’s tourism marketing campaign to show the world that New York City is open, vibrant, and ready to welcome visitors again.

 

• Delivered raises for essential gig workers, many of whom are immigrants, and all of whom helped New Yorkers get around the five boroughs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

• Announced a new lease with the local, women-owned New York Embroidery Studio that will create 500 new jobs at the Brooklyn Army Terminal to manufacture sustainable personal protective equipment for frontline health care workers nationwide and deliver an estimated $73 million in economic output.

 

• Announced a partnership that will create new jobs for New Yorkers, expand Brooklyn’s footprint in the fashion industry, and provide a boost to New York’s economy as part of the development of the Made in NY campus at Bush Terminal in Sunset Park.

 

• Launched the inaugural cohort of the Founder Fellowship program, providing urban tech startup founders from underrepresented backgrounds — Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), as well as women — with the resources to build and scale their companies in New York City.

 

• Announced that jetBlue is bringing 5,000 new jobs to the city and offering a new travel incentive to bring tourists to the five boroughs.

 

• Launched “Get Local NYC” — a new five-borough tourism marketing campaign that will encourage visitors to explore all of New York City and support small businesses as the city emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and the tourism industry begins its rebound.

 

• Launched the first phase of the City Agencies Revitalizing the Economy (CARE) strategy to catalyze investment in underserved neighborhoods and broke ground on the largest commercial building at Broadway Junction in East New York — bringing more than 1,000 jobs and needed social services to the community.
  
  

Creating Opportunities for Young People and Countering the Impacts of the Pandemic on Students:

 

• Through the distribution of more than 20 million home tests and contract tracing, successfully kept schools open with positivity rates approximately 50 times lower than when Mayor Adams took office.

 

• Announced funding for a record 100,000 summer youth employment opportunities.

 

• Expanded the Summer Rising program — New York City’s largest summer program ever — to 110,000 elementary and middle school students to provide fun, full-day, culturally-relevant, hands-on learning — NYC’s largest summer program ever.

 

• Expanded funding for the Fair Futures program, which provides coaching and tutoring for youth in foster care.

 

• Committed to connect every young person on probation aged 21 and under with a credible messenger mentor — someone with experience in the justice system who is committed to preventing others from following in their footsteps.

 

• Announced nine new Family Enrichment Centers, where families and children can connect with neighbors, volunteer their time, and access resources and supports.

 

• Announced a new vocational training and apprenticeship program that will provide professional opportunities to youth, ages 16 to 24, in foster care.
  
  

Protecting New Yorkers from COVID-19 and Building a Healthier and More Sustainable City:

 

• Launched a new color-coded system that tracks COVID-19 alerts and keeps New York City residents apprised of risks.

 

• Began expanding the doula program citywide and launched the Midwifery Initiative and the Maternity Hospital Quality Improvement Network.

 

• Announced the creation of a COVID-19 Center of Excellence in Bushwick to provide care to recovering COVID-19 patients and comprehensive ambulatory services.

 

• Expanded the groundbreaking lifestyle medicine services to six public health care sites across New York City.

 

• Committed nearly $33 million in resources to support safety net hospitals.

 

• Made COVID-19 antiviral treatments available for free at-home delivery.

 

• Announced a new Food Distribution Program, which will include fresh fruits and vegetables for the first time in emergency food distributed to food pantries and soup kitchens across the five boroughs.

 

• Announced that the city will open wellness rooms at two NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health clinics, providing support and resources to city health care workers.

 

• Announced the transformation of the city-owned South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, helping to support 13,000 local jobs and meet a climate goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2040.
  
  

Investing in Infrastructure to Build a More Accessible, Livable City:

 

• Committed to improving 1,000 intersections to increase safety with better traffic signals, raised crosswalks, and other expanded pedestrian space and visibility measures.

 

• Provided $75 million to expand and make Fair Fares discounted MTA rides program permanent.

 

• Began breaking ground on over 100 paused park projects this spring, with a focus on sustainability improvements and targeting underserved neighborhoods.

 

• Kicked off the city’s work to harden 20 miles of protected bike lanes.

 

• Announced a curbside secure bike parking pilot to be tested through an innovative concession agreement at five high-profile locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.

 

• Announced the completion of a $50 million project, under budget, delivering more than six miles of new sewers and water mains to alleviate flooding of homes and streets in Rochdale.

 

• Consolidated all city technology agencies under a single authority to streamline operations — fostering interagency cooperation and better supporting innovation in the city.
  
  

Permits Filed For 3831 Carpenter Avenue In Williamsbridge, The Bronx

 

Permits have been filed for a six-story mixed-use building at 3831 Carpenter Avenue in Williamsbridge, The Bronx. Located between East 220th and East 221st Streets, the lot is one block from the 219th Street subway station, serviced by the 2 and 5 trains. Alban Haxhari of KGCJ Development Corp. is listed as the owner behind the applications.

The proposed 56-foot-tall development will yield 17,776 square feet, with 17,560 square feet designated for residential space and 216 square feet for community facility space. The building will have 30 residences, most likely rentals based on the average unit scope of 585 square feet. The masonry-based structure will also have a cellar, a 35-foot-long rear yard, and nine open parking spaces.

Node Architecture Engineering Consulting is listed as the architect of record.

Demolition permits were filed in January for a two-story building on the site. An estimated completion date has not been announced.

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli Statement on New York State Budget for SFY 2022-23

"The passing of the state budget is welcome news. While jobs are rebounding in many industries, our economic recovery lags the nation, and risks have expanded as the budget process has unfolded, with growing geopolitical uncertainty surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and persistently high inflation. In addition, New Yorkers continue to grapple with the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic. "I am pleased to see the budget will provide tax relief and support to help middle-class New Yorkers and small businesses, boost wages for health care workers, make green investments and extend relief programs to assist those affected by the pandemic. "While it’s good news the budget maintains a commitment to building up reserves, many new programs will add recurring spending, and it is yet unclear to what extent they are supported by recurring revenues. Using temporary federal relief aid to fund new spending programs could create a “fiscal cliff” in the future. We must remember this influx of federal funding is finite. Bolstering state savings through the formal rainy day fund reserves is essential for sustaining services that New Yorkers rely on and improving the state’s long-term fiscal standing. "My office will analyze the final enacted budget and release a detailed analysis in the coming weeks."