DOJ: San Francisco trash company to pay $36M for bribery

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s trash disposal company has agreed to pay $36 million in criminal penalties for its role in a wide-ranging bribery scheme involving the city’s former public works director. Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds announced Thursday that the three subsidiaries of Recology Inc. have pledged to cooperate in ongoing investigations in exchange for the government deferring prosecution. The agreement is subject to court approval. Prosecutors say the companies conspired to bribe Mohammed Nuru from 2014 through January 2020, when the then-director of the Department of Public Works was arrested. The company holds the exclusive right to dispose of waste in San Francisco.