In a unanimous vote during its Nov. 6 work session, the Fayetteville City Council formally requested that State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office conduct an audit of six city construction projects left incomplete after contractor disputes and delays—some of which are now under criminal scrutiny.
The audit request, initiated by Council Members Deno Hondros, Malik Davis, and Lynne Greene, marks a turning point in the city’s reckoning with millions of dollars in incomplete infrastructure.
The vote itself was preceded by a controversial rescheduling of the council’s work session just before Election Day. Mayor Mitch Colvin also surprised council members by inviting Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West to brief the council on a criminal investigation that had been launched months earlier—one that some council members say they were never told about.
Four of the projects—the Rosehill Road sidewalk project, Mable C. Smith Community Center, Mazarick Park Tennis Center building, and new tennis courts at Mazarick Park—were contracted to Apex Contracting Group, led by Mohammad Mohammad, whose work is now under criminal investigation.
The other projects were the Hay Street parking deck, which was handled by Prince Charles Holdings Inc., and Fire Station No. 4, done by the W.B. Brawley Company.
The audit vote was originally scheduled for Nov. 3—just one day before the municipal election. But during the council’s Oct. 27 dinner meeting, a lesser-known pre-session gathering typically reserved for agenda clarification, the vote was abruptly rescheduled.
The move drew immediate criticism from Council Members Deno Hondros, Mario Benavente, and Lynne Greene, who alleged it was orchestrated by Colvin to avoid addressing politically sensitive issues ahead of Election Day.
Emails Surface Mid-Meeting
That tension carried into the Nov. 6 work session, where the audit vote finally took place.
During the discussion of the audit request Monday night, Colvin handed out printed emails and letters showing that back in April, the city attorney had formally asked District Attorney West to pursue criminal charges against Mohammad.
According to the emails, obtained by CityView, West responded on the same day saying that he had requested the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation’s Financial Crimes Unit to investigate whether criminal activity occurred. He also contacted Jordan Ford, chief financial crimes prosecutor for the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, for guidance.
The emails also mentioned that the city filed suit against Mohammad and hired a private investigator to track him down. (The city won that lawsuit in June.)
Council Member Kathy Jensen interrupted the work session to ask why the emails had not been shared earlier.
“If we would have seen these letters when people were asking us questions, we could have been able to maybe answer them better,” Jensen told CityView on Wednesday. “Because I don’t think anybody was aware that Billy West was involved in it.”
Council Member Mario Benevente, who was critical of the mayor, told CityView that he also does not recall being briefed on West’s involvement. “There’s a pattern here; whenever Mayor Colvin wants to obfuscate the truth, he pulls political stunts,” Benevente said.
Council Member Lynne Greene told CityView that back in the spring, she recalled the city attorney had mentioned the district attorney’s office was considering an investigation—but said the discussion was brief and lacked follow up.
“There was not extended conversation about it,” Greene said.
According to Colvin, the criminal investigation should not have surprised anyone.
“I printed out [those emails and letters] to remind them that they were briefed,” Colvin told CityView. He added that he had told council members about West’s involvement and had wondered why no one on council brought up the investigation since then and instead wanted to request a state audit “with urgency.”
”It didn’t make sense to me,” he said.
Colvin told council members that while he had invited West to come to the meeting and update the council in person, West was unable to attend and instead sent a video statement. Among the council, only Colvin had viewed the video prior to the meeting, according to city attorney Lachelle Pulliam.
Video Sparks Tension
A tense exchange followed between Colvin and Benavente over whether the video should be played publicly, with the latter pushing for public viewing.
“I think that if we are talking about transparency right now…if there is a video that needs to be played, I think we have the AV equipment to play it right now so that we can vote on this right now,” Benevente said.
Pulliam advised that the video be viewed in closed session, citing “sensitive details in there about the investigation and the different agencies investigating.”
The city council ultimately voted to move forward with the request for the audit before viewing the video. They entered into closed session after the work session meeting, where council members watched the video.
Broader Criminal Probe
In a follow-up phone call with CityView, West said that most of what he said in the video update for the city council was appropriate for the public to know about.
“There hasn’t been a file presented by the SBI and the SBI has not made any recommendations yet as to whether criminal activity occurred, and if so, what charges,” West told CityView. “So we’re just at the status where we’re waiting for the results of that investigation.”
According to the video, which was obtained by CityView, West told council members that Mohammad is suspected of using a fake bonding company in other cities—raising concerns about a broader pattern of misconduct.
Federal prosecutors also have joined in the investigation due to claims that Mohammad’s frauds in other cities involved federal money. West told CityView other agencies are also investigating Mohammad but declined to name them.
West told CityView he expects the investigation to be complete in “the next couple of weeks or months.” He added that he welcomes an audit and does not think it would interfere with the criminal investigation.
Government reporter Rachel Heimann Mercader can be reached at rheimann@cityviewnc.com.
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