City of Atlanta contractor Lohrasb “Jeff” Jafari has been charged in a 51 count federal indictment with conspiratorial bribery, bribery, tampering with a witness, tax evasion, money laundering, and structuring.
“Jeff Jafari allegedly paid multiple bribes to two local officials over a period of years and then attempted to obstruct the federal investigation into his misconduct,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “He also failed to pay income taxes on millions of dollars he earned from city contracts. Instead, he used the funds to live a lavish lifestyle. Whether you bribe, take a bribe, or otherwise misuse the public’s money to enrich yourself – it’s all corruption. We will vigorously pursue any such cases.”
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court on March 6, 2019:
- Beginning at least in 2014 to January 2017, Jafari allegedly paid thousands of dollars in bribe payments to Adam Smith, the then-Chief Procurement Officer of the City of Atlanta.
- At the time, Jafari was the Executive Vice-President of PRAD Group and did millions of dollars in work with the City of Atlanta, primarily under the City’s Architectural and Engineering contracts.
- Jafari and Smith met at Atlanta-area restaurants where they discussed City business, among other things, and Jafari would generally pay Smith $1,000 in cash in the restaurant bathroom.
- Jafari similarly paid bribes to a local official in DeKalb County in April and August of 2014.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, in exchange for Jafari’s payments to Smith, Smith provided Jafari with information and counsel regarding the City of Atlanta’s procurement processes, among other information. When PRAD Group or a joint venture in which PRAD Group was a partner became a successful proponent on a City of Atlanta contract or Request for Proposal, Smith approved and submitted the award of those projects. Smith also approved task and/or purchase orders for those projects.
In February 2017, Jafari became aware of the federal investigation into his payments to Smith, at which time he confronted Smith in an effort to intimidate and persuade Smith to provide false information to federal law enforcement about the payments, instructing Smith to deny taking bribe money from Jafari.
Between 2014 through 2016, Jafari also willfully failed to pay income taxes to the IRS. During those years, Jafari withdrew large amounts of cash from corporate bank accounts and used corporate funds for personal expenses, among other things, to avoid the assessment of income tax. In 2014, Jafari owed at least $150,000; in 2015, at least $300,000; and in 2017, at least $700,000 to the IRS. Jafari is additionally charged with numerous counts of money laundering for engaging in financial transactions with funds earned from City of Atlanta work he obtained while he was paying bribes to Adam Smith.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. This case is being investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation.
See federal indictment here: Jeff Jafari-Indictment-03.06.2019
See September 28, 2017 article about guilty plea by City of Atlanta purchasing chief here: https://gtpac.org/2017/09/28/city-purchasing-head-pleads-guilty-to-conspiracy-charge
Despite past admonitions, the Internal Revenue Service still has a ways to go in preventing the award of agency contracts to firms that owe back taxes, an agency watchdog has found.
