Wayne County Official Indicted In Alleged Bribery Cover-Up
DETROIT (WWJ) - An ex-Wayne County official has been indicted on charges he conspired to obstruct justice and falsified documents to conceal a bribery scheme.
Wayne County's former Director of Enterprise Application Zayd Allebban, 33, of Dearborn, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday.
Federal investigators claim Allebban worked with his supervisor, Tahir Kazmi, to try to persuade a contractor to lie to FBI agents and gave false information to a grand jury investigating corruption in the county.
Kazmi, who has already pleaded guilty to bribery charges, admitted to accepting bribes that included cash and overseas trips — all in exchange for agreeing to use his influence to secure multi-million dollar vendor contracts.
This indictment charges Alleban gave a private contractor $24,000 to persuade the contractor to claim he never gave anything to Kazmi.
"Public officials who illegally enrich themselves will be detected and brought to justice. Efforts to conceal their crimes will bring additional charges and higher penalties," said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade in a statement.
If convicted, Allebban faces a maximum of up to twenty years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for conspiring to obstruct justice. In addition, he faces up to twenty years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the three counts of falsifying documents.
