Hours after a federal judge tossed the corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams, the mayor stood on the steps of Gracie Mansion and crowed, \u201cToday finally marks the end of this chapter.\u201d Not quite. Law enforcement investigations of some of his closest aides continue apace, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and city Department of Investigation actively delving into allegations of pay-to-play at the top levels of the administration.<\/p>\n
Several Adams allies have had their electronic devices seized; some have had their homes searched. At least 11 have resigned for reasons related to the investigations, and three have so far been indicted. The web of investigations includes prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney\u2019s office, the Manhattan U.S. attorney and the Brooklyn U.S. attorney, and involves everything from Adams\u2019 team members using their influence to smooth over bureaucratic obstacles or award lucrative city contracts and hefty municipal leases in exchange for personal or political benefits.<\/p>\n
Some of those under the law enforcement microscope include some of the mayor\u2019s closest friends and allies, many with histories that date back decades to his time as an NYPD cop, as a state senator and as Brooklyn borough president. Adams has even likened one of them, former chief advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin, to his \u201csister.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lewis-Martin, one of the mayor\u2019s long standing associates, resigned from her spot as Number Two to the mayor in December just before she was indicted by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg on charges of using her influence to help two businessmen deal with Buildings Department issues. The DA alleged the businessmen, in turn, provided her son with $100,000 toward the purchase of a Porsche. She has denied wrongdoing and the businessmen claim the money was a loan. Hamilton, the city official who oversees the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) unit that determines where city agencies lease private sector office space, is currently under investigation by both the DA and the city Department of Investigation regarding whether he steered a lucrative lease to an Adams donor. The investigation is focused on evidence that DCAS initially planned to lease space in a downtown Manhattan building at 250 Broadway, but then Hamilton intervened and 14 Wall St. became the building of choice. That landlord, a billionaire named Alexander Rovt, had raised $15,000 for the mayor\u2019s legal defense fund.<\/p>\n In an early morning sweep in September, law enforcement seized the phones of Schools Chancellor David Banks, his brother, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III, and the chancellor\u2019s wife, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. All have since resigned. Pearson, a longtime friend and associate of the mayor from their days in the NYPD that the mayor appointed to a vaguely defined job as \u201csenior advisor,\u201d had his phone seized by the feds and DOI back in September. Weeks later he resigned. As the wave of asylum seekers flooded New York City, the mayor put him in charge of monitoring public safety and anti-fraud issues at migrant shelters. Since then he\u2019s been accused in four civil lawsuits of sexually harassing a female subordinate and retaliating against male subordinates who complained about his behavior.<\/p>\n In November 2023 federal and DOI investigators raided the homes of Adams\u2019 campaign finance directors, Brianna Suggs, and mayoral aide Abbasova. Days later City Hall fired Abbasova. At the time, reports emerged that she was cooperating with law enforcement. She is listed as \u201cAdams staffer\u201d throughout the mayor\u2019s indictment, allegedly helping to arrange illegal straw donations and travel perks for the mayor provided by officials with ties to the Turkish government.<\/p>\n In December 2021, Bahi and Chughtai \u2014 then campaign volunteers who later became the mayor\u2019s liaisons to the Muslim community \u2014 arranged $10,000 in straw donations for the campaign via an Uzbek businessman, according to Adams\u2019 indictment. After Adams became mayor, the businessman requested his help dealing with a problem with the building department and later thanked the mayor profusely for his assistance. Former Mayor Eric Adams aide Mohamed Bahi leaves Manhattan federal court after being charged with witness tampering and destruction of evidence, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit:<\/span> Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/span> Greco, who has served as an unpaid campaign fundraiser for Adams since 2018, had two homes she owns in The Bronx, as well as an Adams campaign office she worked at in 2021, raided by the FBI early last year \u2014 shortly after THE CITY and Documented reported on suspicious campaign donations there. Winnie Greco, left, stands near then-mayoral candidate Eric Adams during a Long Island fundraiser in 2021. Credit:<\/span> Screengrab via YouTube\/Jerry Wang<\/span> Caban resigned in early September after serving for just over a year as NYPD commissioner, stepping down just days after he and his twin brother\u2019s homes in Rockland County were raided by the FBI. The office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District is reportedly looking into whether the brother, James Caban \u2014 who was fired from the NYPD in 2001 for abuse of authority \u2014 was benefitting from the commissioner\u2019s position by offering to protect nightclubs from police enforcement as a paid consultant.<\/p>\n Ulrich was the first top mayoral aide to be implicated in scandal. He resigned his position as commissioner of the Department of Buildings in November 2022 and was indicted by the Manhattan DA about a year later, charged with taking bribes from a variety of individuals seeking favorable treatment from City Hall.<\/p>\n Maddrey, the highest uniformed officer in the NYPD, had his home raided by federal officials in January, following a complaint filed by a female subordinate that he had coerced sexual favors from her in exchange for overtime opportunities.<\/p>\n The investigations into Mayor Eric Adams’ inner circle are complex and multifaceted, involving various allegations of corruption, pay-to-play, and misconduct. As the investigations continue, it remains to be seen how far the mayor’s loyalty will extend to his allies and whether he will throw any of them under the bus.<\/p>\n Introduction to the Investigations Hours after a federal judge tossed the corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams, the mayor stood on the steps of Gracie Mansion and crowed, \u201cToday finally marks the end of this chapter.\u201d Not quite. Law enforcement investigations of some of his closest aides continue apace, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thecity.nyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/082024_adams_off_topic_lewis_martin_1-scaled.jpg?w=1920&resize=1920,1280&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15581"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15583,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15581\/revisions\/15583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIngrid Lewis-Martin is escorted into a Manhattan courtroom for an arraignment on bribery charges, Dec. 19, 2024. Credit:<\/span> Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/span>
\nHer troubles, however, are far from over. Prosecutors revealed last week a sitting grand jury was continuing to hear evidence about her and her co-defendants.<\/p>\nJesse Hamilton, Deputy Commissioner of Real Estate Services<\/h3>\n
The Banks Brothers<\/h3>\n
\nDeputy Mayor Philip Banks III, left, and Schools Chancellor David Banks. Credit:<\/span> Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/span>
\nThey also confiscated the electronic devices of the Banks\u2019 younger brother, Terence, in an investigation that appears to tie all three brothers to a tech company called Saferwatch.<\/p>\nFormer Senior Mayoral Aide Timothy Pearson<\/h3>\n
Rana Abbasova, Former Director of Protocol in Mayor\u2019s Office for International Affairs Office<\/h3>\n
Former Mayoral Aides Mohammed Bahi and Ahsan Chughtai<\/h3>\n
\nIn July law enforcement seized devices belonging to Bahi and Chughtai, and both later resigned from City Hall. In October Bahi was arrested, charged with orchestrating the illegal donation scheme and then trying to cover his tracks.<\/p>\nWinnie Greco, Mayor\u2019s Liaison to the Asian Community<\/h3>\n
\nIn October she resigned from her paid government job, where she had served as Adams\u2019 Asian Affairs Advisor since January 2022.<\/p>\nEdward Caban, Police Commissioner<\/h3>\n
Eric Ulrich, Building Commissioner<\/h3>\n
Jeffrey Maddrey, NYPD Chief of Department<\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
FAQs<\/h2>\n
\n
\nThe investigations involve allegations of corruption, pay-to-play, and misconduct by the mayor’s closest aides and allies.<\/li>\n
\nAt least 11 people have resigned, and three have been indicted.<\/li>\n
\nThe FBI and the city Department of Investigation are actively investigating the allegations, seizing electronic devices, and conducting raids on homes and offices.<\/li>\n
\nThe investigations highlight the potential for corruption and misconduct at the highest levels of city government and raise questions about the mayor’s judgment and leadership.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"