SF Public Works Director and Alleged Co-Conspirator Appear in Federal Court

A San Francisco official and a prominent restaurant owner who were arrested by the FBI on corruption charges last week appeared for the first time in court on Thursday.

Mohammed Nuru, 57, the head of San Francisco’s Public Works department and his alleged co-conspirator, Nick Bovis, 56, who owns the sports bar Lefty O’Doul’s, appeared in federal court to review the terms of their bail bonds, set at $2 million each.

Nuru and Bovis are both free and are starting paperwork to secure their hefty bonds with personal property. Nuru is on paid administrative leave from his position with the city.

The men are charged with honest services wire fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to bribe a San Francisco International Airport commissioner with $5,000 to ease the way for Bovis to open a restaurant at the airport.

Nuru also allegedly accepted extravagant gifts from a developer who was working on a project in San Francisco, and is accused of helping Bovis with bids for contracts with city authorities.

Nuru was accompanied to court by his daughter. He and Bovis didn’t speak to each other during the brief courtroom hearing.

They did not comment on the allegations or status of the case.

The corruption allegations have upended San Francisco City Hall, with Mayor London Breed and others professing outrage and ignorance that such alleged corruption was occurring here. The city attorney and controller’s offices are investigating, and several members of the Board of Supervisors have called for an outside audit.

“I encourage the city attorney and controller to follow every lead, every dollar, and every complaint, and to make policy recommendations to help prevent future wrongdoing,” Breed said in a statement this week.

The scandal has also led to several revelations about who could be linked to alleged schemes which are laid out in the 75-page indictment. Many unnamed contractors, developers, executives and employees are referenced in conversations that federal investigators caught on surveillance.

SFO Commissioner Linda Crayton, the target of the alleged bribery scheme, resigned last week after it became clear she was the unnamed commissioner in the complaint.

Then, the San Francisco Examiner reported Thursday that Bovis was accused of diverting charitable contributions from contractors who had business before Nuru for a lavish holiday party in 2017 for Nuru’s Public Works employees. The donations to “Lefty O’Doul’s Foundation for Kids” were meant to benefit children.

And there could be more charges to come: Mission Local reported this week that the FBI served search warrants at the city’s Department of Building Inspection.

The complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office details five “schemes” in which Nuru is alleged to have taken advantage of his position to benefit himself and others. Bovis is implicated in three of the alleged deals. But the actual criminal charges relate only to the alleged SFO bribe attempt.

Nuru, who was first arrested Jan. 21 and told not to talk to anyone about the case, is also facing a second charge of lying to the FBI.

U.S. Attorney David Anderson said that Nuru and Bovis could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the corruption charges. Nuru could face another five years if found guilty of lying to investigators.

On Feb. 27, the pair will return to court to discuss the date for their preliminary hearing.

Speaking before the hearing, Bovis’ attorney Michael Stepanian said his client was a good man.

“He wants to get to the bottom and put this behind him. He understands what he did, but there’s legal aspects and fact aspects you have to put together to make a determination” on criminality, Stepanian said.