Sources told The Post that a super PAC supporting Zohran Mamdani allegedly offered a top Hispanic business leader a job as an NYC commissioner and a place on the transition team in exchange for raising up to $1 million in three days before the mayoral election.
Frank Garcia, chairman of the New York State Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, claimed he was presented with the “pay-to-play offer” by Irfan Verjee on Oct. 17, three weeks before Mamdani’s victory in the election.
Verjee, who is the CEO of Shomax Energy and sits on the business advisory council for OneNYC, a political action committee that supported Mamdani’s campaign, allegedly made the offer during a meeting at 5 Acres Restaurant in Rockefeller Center.
Garcia declined the offer multiple times, stating that he would not participate in a “pay-to-play” scenario. He explained that he was approached due to his success in reducing food costs for minority-owned businesses and his concerns about Mamdani’s plans for city-owned grocery stores.
Despite Garcia’s refusal of the job offer, he expressed interest in being involved in the transition team to help revise policies for minority-owned businesses. Verjee allegedly asked Garcia how much money he could raise, to which Garcia reminded him of the legal restrictions on fundraising for political campaigns by nonprofit organizations like his chamber group.
Garcia decided to go public with the allegations after Mamdani did not respond to his concerns raised in a letter. Campaign finance laws prohibit coordination between a candidate’s campaign and independent expenditure groups like super PACs, but members of these groups can be part of transition teams if the candidate wins.
Verjee and Salem, who was also involved in the super PAC, did not respond to requests for comment.
Monica Klein Denies Affiliation with Irfan Verjee
Monica Klein, a spokesperson for Mamdani’s transition team, has strongly refuted any claims of affiliation with Irfan Verjee. Klein stated that the transition team “is not affiliated with or represented by anyone named Irfan Verjee — and any suggestion otherwise is completely false.”
Furthermore, Klein emphasized that any individual making such false claims is directly contradicting their commitment to transparency and the eradication of corruption in government.
Super PAC Support for Mamdani
Aside from OneNYC, another super PAC that supported Mamdani’s mayoral campaign was New Yorkers for Lower Costs. This super PAC managed to raise over $3 million, primarily from affluent out-of-state donors, as per records.
