Exclusive | Mamdani-linked PAC allegedly offered Hispanic business leader job, seat on transition team if he raised $1M in 3 days

A super PAC that backs Zohran Mamdani allegedly tried to sweeten a title in the mayor’s upcoming team. According to sources, a top Hispanic business leader was offered a new commissioner post and a spot on the transition committee if he could raise up to one million dollars in just three days before the election.

Frank Garcia, who chairs the New York State Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, says he received what he calls a “pay‑to‑play offer” from Irfan Verjee on Oct. 17—three weeks before Mamdani won the race in a landslide. Verjee, the chief executive of Renewable Energy firm Shomax Energy, also runs the business advisory council for OneNYC, the super PAC that pulled in $508,100 for ads supporting Mamdani’s campaign.

Garcia and another person who stayed anonymous told The Post that they met with Verjee at 5 Acres restaurant in Rockefeller Center. Garcia rejected the proposal on three separate occasions over coffee. “I yelled out, ‘Absolutely not! I am not going to ‘pay to play!’ ’” Garcia recalled. “We were talking over each other. The Puerto Rican in me got excited because I’m not going to go to jail for anybody.”

The meeting was organized because Garcia had built a successful buying group that lowers food prices for minority‑owned supermarkets and bodegas. Garcia was wary of Mamdani’s “Soviet‑style” plan to open city‑owned grocery stores across the city.

Verjee first asked Garcia if he’d be interested in serving as Commissioner of Small Business Services, a $227,786‑per‑year role, but Garcia said he didn’t want that position or any job in a future Mamdani administration. Instead, he wanted to help pick the commissioner and shape policies that would help bodegas and supermarkets qualify as “minority‑owned businesses.”

Verjee then added, “I asked you if you’d be interested in chairing the transition team’s Committee on Small Businesses and Minority‑ and Women‑owned Business Enterprises,” which Garcia said he would do “if it’s going to help me help small businesses.” Garcia explained that initially he thought he’d get that committee spot if he endorsed Mamdani, which he had already planned to do.

Toward the end of their sit‑down, Verjee allegedly pressed Garcia for the amount of money he could raise. Garcia reminded Verjee that it is illegal for nonprofits, such as his chamber, to raise money for political campaigns and told him he was stepping down as chairman to launch a new super PAC that could gather between $500,000 and a million in a month. Verjee, it appears, required the money within three days in exchange for a seat at the table.

Verjee never named a dollar figure, but the context led Garcia and the other attendee to understand that he was demanding $500,000 to $1 million in three days. “I asked him three times to clarify because I couldn’t believe it,” Garcia said. “I was in shock. I’ve never had anyone working with a campaign approach me that way.”

Hours after the meeting, Verjee texted the third attendee—an Asian‑community business leader—requesting her help “to broker peace with Garcia, adding it will benefit all of us if Mamdani becomes mayor.” He wrote, “I genuinely need your help as I don’t want to deal with a street hustler.”

Garcia was furious about the slur and wrote a letter to Mamdani on Nov. 13, outlining his “shock” and describing Verjee’s offer as a “pay‑to‑play offer.” He said the statement was “deeply offensive to me personally but also to the thousands of Hispanic and minority entrepreneurs I represent.” Garcia accused Mamdani’s campaign of undermining inclusivity and fairness and asked for a private meeting within two weeks of the mayor’s inauguration.

After Mamdani failed to respond, Garcia decided to publicize his allegations. Campaign‑finance rules prohibit a candidate’s campaign from coordinating with outside super PACs, though leaders of those groups may join transition teams if the candidate wins. OneNYC’s chief, Yasser Salem, was among the 400‑plus far‑left Mamdani supporters named to the 17 transition committees. Salem, who partners at investment firm Hira Ventures, sits on the Committee on Economic Development and Workforce Development. Verjee, however, was not on any committe, nor did he even work for Mamdani’s campaign—just the super PAC.

Both Verjee and Salem ignored messages sent by media outlets. Mamdani’s transition‑team spokesperson Monica Klein said any suggestion that the team was associated with or represented by Irfan Verjee was “completely false” and that such claims run counter to the commitment to transparency and to ending corruption.

Other super PACs also backed Mamdani: New Yorkers for Lower Costs raised more than $3 million, largely from wealthy out‑of‑state donors.

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