Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme Rocks Ohio Treasurer’s Office

Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme Rocks Ohio Treasurer’s Office

A former lobbyist and a former securities broker have been sentenced for their roles in a brazen bribery and money laundering scheme involving the Ohio Treasurer’s Office.

Douglas E. Hampton, 40, of Uniontown, Ohio, was sentenced today to serve 45 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $2,202,259. Mohammed Noure Alo, 35, of Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced yesterday to serve 48 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $123,622.

Last year, Alo pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting honest services wire fraud, and Hampton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, federal program bribery and money laundering.

The former Deputy Treasurer for Ohio, Amer Ahmad, fled after pleading guilty to federal program bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, federal program bribery, and money laundering, and is currently in Pakistani custody pending an extradition request from the United States government.

According to the defendants’ admissions in connection with their guilty pleas, from approximately January 2009 through January 2011, Ahmad, Alo, Hampton and Joseph Chiavaroli conspired to use Ahmad’s position as deputy treasurer to direct official state of Ohio business to Hampton in return for bribes from Hampton.

Hampton also funneled more than $123,000 to Alo, an attorney and lobbyist who was Ahmad’s close personal friend and business associate. During the course of the scheme, Hampton paid in excess of $500,000 in bribes, and received, in exchange, approximately $3.2 million in commissions for 360 securities trades on behalf of the Ohio Treasurer’s Office.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Central Ohio Public Corruption Task Force, which includes special agents from the FBI and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Eric L. Gibson and Menaka Kalaskar of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas W. Squires of the Southern District of Ohio.

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