Internet of corruption: Discover the cronyism, lies, and federal crimes on the coronary heart of San Francisco’s authorities

The first domino fell in January 2020.

Then-director of the San Francisco Department of Public Works, Mohammed Nuru, has been charged with a series of federal corruption charges, including lied to the FBI – crimes that could land him in jail for up to 25 years.

At that time, US Attorney David Anderson commented on the allegations with the words: “Corruption flows into San Francisco from all over the world”.

The next two years seem to prove him right. Several heads of the city administrations have since been dismissed from their offices on charges of corruption. City workers and contractors have pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, money laundering and fraud; others confess their innocence as the charges continue to mount.

The state and local investigation has touched building inspectors, real estate agents and even a Chinese billionaire. From the public works to the mayor’s office to the public utility commission, new fees arise month after month, hydra-like.

With so many interconnected allegations floating around town, it can be difficult to keep track of exactly who is involved in what. Based on the coverage of Joe Eskenazi, we created an interactive website to show the connections between the people and organizations that play a large role in the investigation. As more and more players are swallowed up – and as connections are made between players – we will update this item.

Click the circles below to learn more. Click on the lines between the circles to understand why the two are connected. This diagram works best on a large screen.

Some were calculatedto have others pleaded guilty. Others had no charge was brought. See how they’re connected.

A full screen version of the diagram can be found here.

Please note that inclusion in this table does not necessarily mean misconduct, but is only in connection with city investigations. The table does not claim to be complete either – there will be links that are not included here. We will update the table as the investigation progresses.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know the corruption scandal that rocked San Francisco for the past two years? Click the question fields to view the answers.

Question 1: Who pleaded guilty to bribing Mohammed Nuru with a Rolex worth nearly $ 40,000?

Question 2: How many of all the individuals and organizations on our map who have pleaded guilty to the indictment are directly linked to Mohammed Nuru?

All of them. At least 8 people and the disposal company Recology have pleaded guilty to the charges in connection with the corruption investigation in the town hall. They are all directly related to Mohammed Nuru.

Question 3: How Much has Recology over-billed San Francisco taxpayers since 2017?

Question 4: How are former Public Utilities Commission chief Harlan Kelly and former Chief Inspector Bernie Curran connected?

Question 5: How are Mayor London Breed and federally indicted restaurateur Nick Bovis connected?

Question 6: How many jumps can you make from Balmore Hernandez to Rodrigo Santos the least?

We think the answer is three – from Hernandez to Mohammed Nuru, to Tom Hui, to Santos.

Question 7: Who oversaw the wedding of Former City Administrator Naomi Kelly and Former Director General of the Public Utilities Commission, Harlan Kelly?

Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco.

Question 8: What non-profit had a sub-account that was used by Mohammed Nuru as a slush fund? The San Francisco Parks Alliance. Funds were deposited into the account by Recology executives as part of a bribery program and allegedly used to fund lavish parties.

Question 9: What service did Walter Wong affiliate Alternate Choice LLC in San Francisco provide? Alternate Choice LLC provided the city’s much maligned Renaissance trash cans. The poorly made cans aggravated the San Francisco garbage problem and added to Public Works’ expensive, ongoing efforts to build their own perfect custom garbage can.

Question 10: What did Balmore Hernandez, Alan Verela and William Gilmartin plead guilty to in bribing Mohammed Nuru? A $ 40,000 John Deere tractor. It was allegedly sent to Nuru (using the name of his girlfriend Sandra Zuniga) to be acquired on a deal for an asphalt factory.