Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced that an employee of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (“PVSC” ), a state agency, has been charged with paying a $1,200 bribe to a senior official at the agency. According to the Attorney Generals Office, Omid Bayati, 39, of Hillsdale, was charged on Thursday, January 7, by complaint-summons with bribery in official and political matters (2nd degree) and offer of unlawful benefit to a public servant for official behavior (2nd degree). According to the investigation, while employed at the PVSC in Newark, Bayati allegedly made an improper payment of $1,200 to at least one senior official at the PVSC.
He allegedly furnished this payment first by check from an account opened under the name PVSC PAC, an organization unaffiliated with the PVSC, then by hand-to-hand cash transfer.
It is alleged that, in exchange for these improper payments to the PVSC senior official, Bayati explained that he was seeking help in procuring promotional opportunities within the PVSC and in politics broadly. Specifically, he allegedly asked for special consideration and assistance from the PVSC senior official in exchange for the funds. The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission referred this matter to OPIA and is cooperating with the investigation. The PVSC is a state agency responsible for managing and regulating the collection and disposal of wastewater generated in a four-county area along the Passaic Valley River Basin, encompassing parts of Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties. Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. The charges against Bayati carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in state prison without eligibility for parole under New Jersey’s enhanced penalties for official corruption. The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.