Lobbyist pleads guilty in treasury scheme

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

An attorney and lobbyist pleaded guilty Friday to his role in a kickback scheme at the state treasurer’s office in which a former deputy treasurer also has been charged.

Federal authorities said Mohammed Noure Alo, of Columbus, entered his plea to a charge of aiding and abetting honest services wire fraud in U.S. District Court. Alo, 35, faces up to 20 years in prison.

According to court documents, Alo admitted that between January 2009 and January 2011 he conspired with his friend Amer Ahmad and others to use Ahmad’s role as Ohio’s then-deputy treasurer to direct state brokerage services to Canton-based broker Doug Hampton, who then funneled more than $123,000 in personal payments back to Alo.

Federal prosecutors allege that Ahmad and mortgage broker Joseph M. Chiavaroli, both of Chicago, concealed additional payments from Hampton by passing them through the accounts of a landscaping business in which they held ownership interests. Hampton received an estimated $3.2 million in commissions for 360 trades on behalf of the Ohio Treasurer’s Office, returning more than $500,000 to Alo, Ahmad and others, authorities said.

Hampton and Chiavaroli pleaded guilty in August.

Ahmad was indicted on fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and other charges that month. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His trial begins in March.

Alo is a partner and founding member of a Columbus-based law firm who registered as a state lobbyist in 2010.

Ahmad worked for then-Ohio treasurer Kevin Boyce, a current Democratic state lawmaker who described himself as “shocked and forever stunned” at details of the scheme.

Records have shown that Boyce learned just after losing the 2010 election that Ahmad was under federal investigation, yet proceeded to recommend him for a job as comptroller for Chicago.