May Salehi, Honest Services Fraud, New York 2021

Former State Department Employee Pleads Guilty to Honest Services Fraud

Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that May Salehi, a former State Department employee, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud. Salehi was a longtime State Department employee who was involved in evaluating bids for critical overseas government construction projects such as U.S. embassies and consulates.

Salehi gave confidential inside bidding information to a bidder, and received $60,000 in kickback payments in return. Salehi surrendered today and pled guilty before United States Magistrate Judge James L. Cott. Salehi’s case is assigned to United States District Judge P. Kevin Castel.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As a State Department employee, May Salehi was entrusted to serve the public. Instead, she abused her position of trust to line her own pockets, as she admitted today. Salehi revealed, and traded on, confidential information – corrupting the bidding process and receiving lucrative kickbacks in return. Together with our law enforcement partners, this Office is committed to rooting out corruption.”

According to the allegations in the Information, court filings, and statements made in court, May Salehi was a State Department employee from 1991 until mid-2021. For many years, Salehi worked as an engineer in the State Department’s Overseas Building Operations division, which directs the worldwide overseas building program for the State Department and the U.S. Government community serving abroad. The scheme began in 2016 with the State Department soliciting bids for a multimillion-dollar construction project known as a compound security upgrade to be performed at the U.S. Consulate in Bermuda.

May Salehi used her position of public trust to selfishly obtain a personal financial advantage by selling proprietary contracting information for profit. Today’s plea, the culmination of extensive investigative and prosecutorial efforts, demonstrates that those who violate the public’s trust will be held accountable for their actions.

Salehi faces up to 20 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 24, 2023. The IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas Fattorusso said: “May Salehi violated the trust of the American taxpayer by putting her personal financial gain over her responsibilities to safeguard confidential information and government resources. Today’s guilty plea shows IRS-Criminal Investigation will continually work with our law enforcement partners to protect the American taxpayer from this type of abuse.”

Defendant: May Salehi

Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to commit honest services fraud

City and State: New York

Exact Date: March 24, 2023

Sentence or Outcome: Scheduled for sentencing

Dollar Amounts: $60,000

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