Contractor Indicted On 50+ Counts In City Hall Bribery Scandal

ATLANTA -- City contractor Lohrasb “Jeff” Jafari has been charged in a 51-count federal indictment with bribery, tampering with a witness, tax evasion, money laundering, and structuring. Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that from 2014 to January 2017, Jafari, 68, of Alpharetta, Georgia paid thousands of dollars in bribe payments to Adam Smith, Atlanta's then-chief procurement officer. Jafari was the executive vice president of PRAD Group and did millions of dollars in work with the city.

Prosecutors said 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 allegedly paid similar bribes to a DeKalb County official in April and August of 2014.

In return, Smith met with Jafari regularly and provided Jafari with information and counsel regarding the city’s procurement processes. When PRAD Group or one of its joint ventures successfully secured a city contract, Smith allegedly approved and submitted the award of those projects.

In February 2017, prosecutors said 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 failed to pay income taxes to the IRS, prosecutors said.

“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."

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