In February 2017, Jafari became aware of the federal investigation into his bribe payments to Smith and confronted Smith at Atlanta City Hall. From at least 2014 to January 2017, Jafari paid Smith more than $40,000 in cash with the intent to influence Smith in his role as the city's CPO. In return for these bribe payments, Jafari expected Smith to use his position and power to assist Jafari with contracting and procurement with the City of Atlanta. Jafari paid Smith $1,000 in cash in the bathroom of the restaurant after most of the meetings. Often at the time of these meetings Jafari was actively seeking additional work and/or assistance with ongoing city projects. During these meetings, Jafari and Smith discussed City of Atlanta procurement projects, bids, and solicitations. For years, Jafari met privately with Smith on multiple occasions, frequently at local restaurants. In exchange for those payments, Smith and Macrina conspired with Jafari to ensure that PRAD Group received city business worth millions of dollars, including by agreeing to replace two evaluators on the selection team for the city's Architectural and Engineering contract and to re-score an evaluation so that Jafari's company would be awarded a contract.ĭuring Smith's tenure as the CPO, the City of Atlanta awarded contracts worth millions of dollars to PRAD Group and joint venture projects of which PRAD Group was a partner. Jafari gave Smith and Macrina cash and other items of value to obtain business with the City of Atlanta. From April 2011 to May 2016, Jo Ann Macrina served as the City of Atlanta's Commissioner of the Department of Watershed Management, a cabinet-level position from which she managed the City's drinking water and wastewater systems and was responsible for an annual budget exceeding $500 million. Jafari served as PRAD Group's Executive Vice President and oversaw PRAD Group's finances.įrom January 2003 to February 2017, Adam Smith served as the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) for the City of Atlanta and supervised the city's purchasing activities and its expenditure of billions of dollars of public money. "As this sentencing shows, the FBI and the City of Atlanta will not tolerate anyone who takes advantage of city funds and abuses their position of trust."Īccording to the charges and other information presented in court: From 1984 to 2018, PRAD Group was an architectural, design, and construction management firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, that performed services for the City of Atlanta and DeKalb County, Georgia. "Circumventing the process to hire contractors for the city by accepting bribes to profit personally is one of the highest forms of public corruption," said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. IRS Criminal Investigation and our partners will continue investigating and holding those accountable who take the public trust for granted to enrich themselves." "City officials who accept bribes undermine the contracting process and diminish trust in the government. "Residents expect fair and open competition for city contracts," said Demetrius Hardeman, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (CI), Atlanta Field Office. His greed delivered a hard blow to public trust in honest and fair government, but this sentence underscores our commitment to prosecuting corruption in any form." "The public paid a heavy price from every project unfairly awarded to Jafari's companies through corruption, and he then compounded his harm by never paying any tax on his substantial personal income. "Jeff Jafari paid bribe after bribe to high-ranking government officials in the City of Atlanta and DeKalb County over several years and thereby obtained lucrative city contracts worth tens of millions of dollars," said U.S. Contact: - Lohrasb "Jeff" Jafari, the former Executive Vice President of Atlanta engineering firm, PRAD Group, Inc., has been sentenced for paying bribes to two City of Atlanta officials in exchange for steering city business worth millions of dollars to his company, paying bribes to a former DeKalb County, Georgia, official in an attempt to obtain county contracts, and evading over $1.5 million in taxes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |