Councilmembers escape being kicked out of council and ballot

An overflow of residents and supporters of Councilmembers Abu Musa and Muhith Mahmood gathered at Tuesday’s city council meeting where the council was scheduled to decide whether to kick their colleagues out of office and also off the August Primary Election ballot.

By Charles Sercombe
For now, Councilmembers Abu Musa and Muhith Mahmood will keep their seats on the council, and will remain as candidates in the August Primary Election.
But their political futures are still up in the air – as well as whether they could face criminal charges.
The Michigan State police have agreed to take over an investigation on whether they are truly residents of the city, and whether they will face charges of fraud and/or perjury.
At a packed Tuesday city council meeting, with heavy police presence and supporters of the councilmembers and concerned residents spilled out of the chambers and into a hallway, that was the decision reached after over a dozen speakers spoke in favor of keeping them on council, and those who wanted them to be removed.
Former Councilmember Andrea Karpinski, who said she was “bullied” out of office over five years ago, said that the council should accept the findings of the investigation on residency.
“When private investigators come with evidence that these councilmen don’t have residence in this city, you have to believe that information,” Karpinski said.
For their part, Musa and Mahmood remained defiant and denied that they were not residents.
“This is insulting to me and really embarrassing,” Mahmood said.
Mahmood waived tax and property records as proof of his residency, but he also admitted that he moved into Hamtramck at 3115 Holbrook on July 15, 2021 – a month before the primary election on which he was on the ballot for city council for that year.
Mahmood, however, filed to be a candidate for that election in April, also claiming to live at the Holbrook address.
It now begs the question whether Mahmood falsely claimed to live in the city in April of 2021.
Musa gave a rambling explanation of owning two and then three cars, some of which were registered to an address in Warren, and showed tax and car insurance records showing he lived on Mitchell.
The investigation, he said, “demolished my personality, my future career, and all my other things.”
During public comment, Bill Meyer pointed out that the city charter failed to define what constitutes residency, saying it was at best vague.
“You got to write a better law,” Meyer said.
But City Attorney Odey Meroueh said that candidates signed an affidavit, under penalty of perjury for providing false information, that defined residency as:
“I affirm that Hamtramck is my actual, fixed, and principal home where I habitually sleep, keep my personal belongings, and conduct daily affairs.”
A private investigator company, Advanced Investigators, of Livonia, was hired by the city to perform background checks on all candidates who signed up for the August election to make sure they did not owe the city, or any other government agency money, and more importantly, whether they lived in the city.
The city took this step this year after ramped up accusations that past and present elected officials here do not live in the city – and that included Musa and Mahmood.
As it turned out, the private investigator hired by the city used a tracking device, interviewed neighbors, and used other resources in investigating Musa and Mahmood and concluded that Musa lives in Warren (28045 Kingswood Ct.), and that Mahmood lives in Troy (5555 Patterson).
The investigation also found out Mahmood’s Troy house has a $32,575 tax lien.
Because of these findings, the city decided to hand over the investigation to the state police, saying in a statement:
“Due to the severity of these findings and to avoid any potential conflicts of interest, the Hamtramck Police Department determined it necessary to forward this matter to the State of Michigan for further criminal investigation.”
The investigator, Jeff Dickison, was initially going to be at Tuesday’s meeting, but bowed out when both Musa and Mahmood threatened legal action.
In a letter to the city, Dickison said:
“It has come to my attention that candidates and current sitting councilmen Muhith Mahmood and Abu Musa have voiced their intent to engage in litigation with regard to this investigation, toward the City of Hamtramck and myself personally.
“I have reviewed their statements from the public meeting, and at the advice of (legal) counsel hereby advise that I will not be appearing for comments or to potentially perform dispositive fact finding for their alleged litigations.”
Councilmember Khalil Refai said that because the council did not get a complete background report as promised, and that the investigator refused to meet with the council, he had no choice but to allow Musa and Mahmood to remain on council and on the August ballot.
“Where is the proof?” said Refai. “There is no proof. Besides the letter you see on the (city’s) website.”
Musa is seeking another four-year term on council, and Mahmood is shooting to become the city’s next mayor.
The mayor’s race is wide open this year because Mayor Amer Ghalib is expecting to get U.S. Senate approval to be the next ambassador to Kuwait – a job that forces him to leave Hamtramck.
So far, there is no date set on when his confirmation hearing will take place.
Ghalib said the issue of residency never came up before when a certain, unnamed, elected official spent three to four days a week in another state to care for a family member.
“That wasn’t an issue at that time. Nobody raised that question,” Ghalib said.
Posted May 16, 2025