Pedicab Driver Indicted By Manhattan DA For Allegedly Trying To Bribe His Way Out Of Registration Lottery

41 year-old Shokhru Alimov allegedly offered tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to to a Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) employee in order to skirt pedicab registration laws, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. Alimov has been charged in New York State Supreme Court with Bribery in the Second Degree, a Class C felony.

Alimov initially approached a senior DCWP inspector and allegedly offered him $60,000 to help him obtain 34 registration plates outside of the legally mandated lottery, according to the DA. He offered the bribe on May 10 at the Central Park North Meadow Recreation Center, which was then promptly reported by the inspector to the Department of Investigation (DOI).

Alimov didn’t quit there, however, as prosecutors claim he was adamant about receiving plates as soon as possible. He followed up with the inspector between May 17 and May 31, offering $7,500 for 15 plates right away, plus an additional $7,500 tied to renewing those plates in November of 2023. He also suggested that he would offer more money once additional pedicabs he’d ordered from a manufacturer arrived. The inspector general surreptitiously recorded the conversations culminating in these alleged bribes, which took place over two in-person meetings and five phone calls.

Alimov was taken into custody on June 6th, after meeting for a final time with the DCWP inspector and a DOI agent posing as a licensing official in the Financial District. He handed over the previously promised $7,500 in exchange for 15 licenses, and according to the DA’s office was “immediately arrested.”

The registration plate lottery hands out 840 “stickers” a year. The maximum allowable amount for an individual or a single employer is 30 plates.

According to the DA, Alimov received one plate in this year’s lottery.

Highlighting the work of his office’s Rackets Bureau, DA Bragg said that “pedicab licensing restrictions exist for the safety of New Yorkers and all those who visit the city. This alleged bribery harms honest, law-abiding operators who are pushed out by those trying to game the system.”

Jocelyn E. Strauber, the commissioner of the Department of Investigation, praised the inspector for alerting officials to the matter: “I thank this employee for stepping forward and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for its long-standing partnership in the fight against bribery and corruption.”