WASHINGTON — A former nightclub owner in the District was found guilty on Thursday of bribery, conspiracy and wire-fraud. Investigators say Davoud Jafari, 72, could face a maximum sentence of forty years in prison arising from a scheme that lasted several years in which he bribed former D.C. tax official Vincent Slater in order to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in business-related taxes.
According to evidence presented at trial, Jafari owned a company called Gevani, Inc., which owned and operated the Zeba Bar and Grill, located in Columbia Heights. Between October 2012 and December 2017, Jafari collected sales and use taxes from Zeba Bar and Grill customers consisting of 10% of the cost of food and drinks purchased. Although Jafari was supposed to turn those tax dollars over to the District on a monthly basis, he instead wrote a check to middleman and co-defendant Anthony Merritt for approximately half the amount of taxes due. Merritt cashed the check and shared the proceeds with Slater, the then-manager of the District of Columbia’s Office of Tax Revenue’s (OTR) Adjustment Unit. In exchange, Slater took actions to falsify records for Jafari and to help Jafari’s company evade collection efforts by other OTR officials.
On the first day of trial, Merritt pleaded guilty to all charges in the indictment. On June 2, 2023, a separate jury convicted Merritt of bribery, conspiracy, and wire fraud for his role in a similar scheme on behalf of Andre De Moya, who was also convicted at trial. Merritt was scheduled to be sentenced in both cases on Jan. 19. Slater previously pleaded guilty for his role in the Jafari scheme and the De Moya scheme and is awaiting a sentencing date.
Authorities say the maximum sentence for conspiracy is five years in prison, 15 years for bribery and 20 years for wire fraud.
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