Mayor Brown calls hiring of consultant accused of defrauding the U.S. “embarrassing”

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – In a story you saw First on 4 — News 4 is now hearing from Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown on how his administration hired a local consultant who is under federal indictment for charges such as money laundering and wire fraud.

Mayor Brown, in his own words, says the revelation is “embarrassing.”

The mayor answered all our questions Wednesday, saying this contract was not approved by him personally and he’s already signaling that the city will enact reforms following this situation.

“These contracts don’t come to me, this was handled in the Department of Public Works, the Department of Public Works set up a selection committee, which reviewed the companies that responded to an RFP and would’ve liked to have known this,” Mayor Brown said.

The city hired Hormoz Mansouri, a consultant, who’s facing federal charges — accused of defrauding the federal government of over $3 million from the CARES Act, which was set up to help individuals and businesses recover from the pandemic.

Mansouri was indicted by a grand jury two years ago, but still won a $166,000 contract from the City of Buffalo last summer to help redevelop Shoshone and Trinidad parks. He’s scheduled to go on trial this summer. After News 4 started asking questions about the contract — Mansouri and his company the EI team resigned from the projects Tuesday.

QUESTION: But still the buck stops with you, because you are the mayor would you say that this is embarrassing that the city hired a contractor/consultant who is under federal indictment?

“There’s no question that it is embarrassing, but again as I mentioned the selection committee looked at the federal list of companies that are debarred companies that are not allowed to bid on federal contracts and this company did not appear on that list,” Brown said.

The mayor says his DPW commissioner, Nate Marton has proposed recommendations moving forward that the city will implement.

“One of the recommendations would be to ask questions about legal issues that might be experienced by members of the company,” Brown said.

Buffalo Common Council Member Rasheed Wyatt is concerned about the plan for Shoshone Park, which is in his district.

“I hope this project isn’t derailed because of this situation,” Wyatt said, “How are we giving this man money and he’s already indicted on some other issues where he wasn’t honest, so that’s what concerned me the most and another thing is that now where’s our project?”

The city’s Department of Public Works is now in the process of finding a new consultant.
Mayor Brown says he does not serve on the committee that selected the EI team. He says the committee is made up of DPW employees.

According to News 4 Investigates, Mansouri and the LLCs named in the indictment have given Mayor Brown about $10,000 over the years.

QUESTION: Are you aware that Hormoz Mansouri was a campaign donor for you over the years and do you plan on returning any of that money?

“I think the last donation from Mr. Mansouri to me was maybe a decade ago, the last time I spoke to Mr. Mansouri was maybe a decade ago or more,” Brown said.

News 4 reached out to Mansouri on Tuesday for comment, but he said he had no comment on the situation and hung up.

Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.