Indicted political donor rejects plea deal with federal prosecutors

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Hormoz Mansouri, the indicted political donor who was once employed by the city of Buffalo, has rejected a plea deal in the federal case against him.

According to federal prosecutors, Mansouri was offered a sentence of 33 to 41 months in prison. Mansouri, in his appearance in federal court Wednesday with his attorneys, said he rejected that offer. Under the terms of the proposed deal, Mansouri would agree to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.

Mansouri’s fraud trial will be held in September. Prosecutors say Mansouri, if convicted, faces between 98 and 121 months in prison.

Three years ago, Mansouri was charged by federal authorities with wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and money laundering. He is accused of lying on loan applications, inflating payroll expenses to obtain more than $3.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds, and routinely transferring money back and forth through multiple bank accounts to cover up the alleged scheme. Prosecutors say Mansouri brazenly paid more than half a million dollars to a casino using COVID funds. The case against Mansouri resulted in the seizure of nearly $2 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

But still, after a selection process, Mansouri and his firm were hired by the city last summer to consult on the redevelopment of Shoshone and Trinidad parks. When WIVB began asking questions about the hiring, Mansouri and his firm resigned from the park projects.

“There’s no doubt it’s embarrassing, but again, as I mentioned, the selection committee looked at the federal list of excluded companies, companies that are not allowed to bid on federal contracts, and this company was not on that list,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said.

Instead, during the selection process, the EI team, with Mansouri as chairman, presented itself as a company with “an exceptional track record.”

Public records show that Public Works Commissioner Nate Marton signed both the notice of commencement and the contract with Mansouri. Documents on the city’s rating criteria for consultants show that both the city’s chief engineer, Steve Buccilli, and Deputy Parks and Recreation Commissioner Andy Rabb gave the EI team glowing ratings on the Shoshone and Trinidad park projects. Emails obtained by WIVB showing discussions between city officials and the EI team make no mention of the legal issues facing Mansouri or his companies.

“We didn’t have that information in front of us and it wasn’t readily available, so we made the EI team assessment based on what we had in front of us,” Marton said.

Shoshone Park is located in the University District, represented by City Councilman Rasheed Wyatt.

“People who heard the story were shocked and I was shocked,” Wyatt said.

Since Mansouri’s resignation, the city has been looking for two new consultants. Even without a lead consultant, Wyatt said the Shoshone Park redevelopment remains on track.

“A lot of the work has already been done,” Wyatt said. “That’s good news, there are still other things that need to be improved, but overall the project is moving forward.”

The City of Buffalo has hired two new firms to replace the EI team on park projects, nearly four months after they resigned. GPI will work on the Trinidad Park project, while Wendel Engineering will work on the Shoshone Park project.

“We know things didn’t go as smoothly as we would have liked,” Wyatt said. “So hopefully we won’t have any more problems in the future.”

The city’s public works department said construction on both park projects is scheduled to begin next year.

As for future reforms, the city’s Department of Public Works said it plans to add a questionnaire for consultants to the city’s bidding process. According to campaign financial documents, Mansouri and the limited liability companies named in the federal indictment gave Brown about $10,000 over the years. However, Brown said in March that had nothing to do with the contract Mansouri received.