Public Corruption Scandal

A city report issued Monday identified major gaps in oversight it said fueled corruption at the Department of Public Works, including a 2011 decision by the then-mayor Ed Lee to give the now ousted DPW director complete authority to approve contracts.

A new report out Monday traces the roots of San Francisco’s public corruption scandal, to find out where things went wrong. Jaxon Van Derbecken reports.

The report, which is the first in a series of upcoming assessments, comes as six people have now been charged in federal court in connection with misconduct and a series of money laundering schemes.

A long time permit consultant in San Francisco was accused Wednesday of fraud and money laundering, and has agreed to cooperate with the FBI in its probe of the city’s ongoing corruption scandal. Walter Wong, 70,  is the latest figure to be caught up in the ever-growing scandal that led to the ouster of San Francisco Public Works Director,...

A long time permit consultant in San Francisco was accused Wednesday of fraud and money laundering, and has agreed to cooperate with the FBI in its probe of the city’s ongoing corruption scandal. Jaxon Van Derbeken reports.

A top member of Mayor London Breed’s staff, Sandra Zuniga, faces charges of money laundering and conspiracy. Federal authorities say she was a long-time girlfriend of the central figure in the case — ousted Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru.

Nick Bovis, appearing via video conference wearing a black and white Adidas track jacket, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal wire fraud charges and officially agreed to cooperate with the FBI’s ongoing probe into San Francisco’s public corruption scandal.

A financial accounting obtained under the California Public Records Act shows that contractors, a non-profit, and other large firms contributed nearly $1 million over the past five years to an undisclosed fund that Public Works officials spent on everything from ballcaps to employee parties to a treadmill for the DPW operations yard. Documents obtained by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit…

Quietly, without a lot of fanfare, the public corruption investigation of San Francisco’s Public Works Department has been progressing during the pandemic. NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has uncovered an “off the books” account within a non-profit that was used to pay for parties and other perks for DPW. Investigative Reporter Jaxon Van Derbeken reports.

Emails obtained by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative unit reveal that two figures in San Francisco’s public works corruption scandal traveled together to Africa.

NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has uncovered more information about San Francisco’s Public Works Director as the corruption scandal around him widens. Jaxon Van Derbeken reports.

San Francisco bought $5 million’s worth of garbage bins from a vendor with ties to ousted Public Works director Mohammed Nuru, according to documents obtained by NBC Bay Area.

San Francisco bought $5 million’s worth of garbage bins from a vendor with ties to ousted Public Works director Mohammed Nuru, according to documents obtained by NBC Bay Area. Jaxon Van Derbeken reports.

A long-time San Francisco building permit expediter and a development he pushed for have been targeted with a total of 14 new subpoenas issued in the city’s ongoing public corruption probe surrounding the Public Works Department.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Thursday issued 14 more subpoenas tied to the public corruption probe involving former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and restaurateur Nick Bovis. Thursday’s announcement is the second round of subpoenas issued by Herrera. On Feb. 12, the city attorney issued 10 subpoenas to several companies and organizations, including PG&E, the San Francisco Parks…

A San Francisco contractor is now alleging that it lost millions of dollars in work with the city after it refused to engage in “pay to play” politics with a key official at the center of the federal corruption and bribery investigation. An attorney for Synergy Project Management Inc. says the company was “scapegoated”  — denounced by then San Francisco…

Another claim of wrongdoing in the ongoing corruption scandal in San Francisco. A contractor says he lost work with the city for refusing to play ball with city leaders to get the contracts. Investigative reporter Jaxon Van Derbeken reports.

New questions surfaced Wednesday about a possible payment involving San Francisco Mayor London Breed and a Pride Parade float. A 2015 invoice from before she was mayor reportedly involves one of the men ensnared in a federal corruption investigation.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Friday admits she previously dated Mohammed Nuru 20 years ago. Nuru, who earlier this week resigned from his post as San Francisco Public Works Director, is at the center of a public corruption investigation. “The last couple weeks have been difficult for our City,” Breed wrote in a tweet. “We must continue to hold…