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NYC buildings inspector pleads guilty to accepting bribes, Queens DA says
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Jun 17, 2024
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José A. Alvarado Jr./Gothamist
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Jun 17, 2024
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A former Department of Buildings inspector pleaded guilty to taking bribes in exchange for not issuing violations, officials said on Monday.
Zabihullah Ibrahimi, 42, was arrested in April and charged by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz with three counts of bribe receiving and official misconduct in connection with three separate incidents where he asked Queens homeowners for cash in exchange for closing out inspections without issuing violations, authorities said.
On Monday, the Flushing resident pleaded guilty to one count of official misconduct — a class A misdemeanor — and was sentenced to a conditional discharge and ordered to pay $1,440 in restitution, the amount of the cash he took from the homeowners, officials said.
“City employees should never scam hardworking homeowners. Instead of performing his job with integrity, this former Department of Buildings inspector was soliciting bribes,” Katz said in a statement. “With today’s plea, this defendant will be held responsible for his conduct and will have to repay the homeowners he took advantage of.”
Ibrahimi worked for the DOB for nearly four years, resigning in May 2024 following his arrest, according to a Department of Investigation press release. He was making $61,800 at the time as a member of the quality of life unit, which conducts inspections to determine whether private residences have been illegally converted into multi-family dwellings, according to the release.
According to a criminal complaint, Ibrahimi told three different homeowners between January 2023 and January 2024 that he found violations at their homes, but closed their cases in the DOB’s database without filing violations, in exchange for cash payments. Two of those times, he said he couldn’t access the property to avoid recording a violation.
The DOI has since identified corruption vulnerabilities in the inspection process and recommended several reforms, including having the DOB analyze the location and time-related data available in order to confirm an inspector’s presence or absence at a property, according to the release.
An attorney for Ibrahimi could not be immediately reached for comment.
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Catalina Gonella
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