SF mayor accepts disgraced Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru's resignation
FILE ART Mohammed Nuru
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed accepted the resignation of the city's former public works director on Monday after he and a prominent restaurant owner were charged in a public corruption scandal.
"Our goal is to continue to support the hard-working employees of this department and to continue its mission of cleaning our streets, performing critical infrastructure work, and taking care of our City," Breed said in a statement. "I will continue to support the full independent investigation underway to uncover any improper actions that were taken and recommend reforms to ensure they never happen again.”
Mohammed Nuru was replaced last week by Alaric Degrafinried, who will take over the department temporarily.
Nuru and Nick Bovis, who most famously owned Lefty O'Douls, were accused by the FBI of being involved in a five-part scheme involving bribes and kickbacks. They were both arrested on Jan. 28.
5-part San Francisco public corruption scheme
In one scheme, The FBI alleges that Nuru received free or cheap hotel stays, travel to South America and China, and other gifts in exchange for handing out approvals and contracts to those who gave him the perks in March and April 2018.
In another, Nuru accepted travel, lodging and “high-end liquor” in working with an unnamed billionaire developer, whom he referred to as the “fifth richest guy in China,” and who was involved in a large multimillion dollar mixed-use project in San Francisco.
Both men have denied the allegations. And both are also still free on $2 million bond.