Latest news with #strawdonations
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Turkish businessman hit with probation, fines for funneling illegal cash to NYC Mayor Adams' campaign
NEW YORK — Brooklyn construction company executive Erden Arkan was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay more than $27,000 in fines Friday after pleading guilty to pumping illegal straw donations into Mayor Eric Adams' 2021 campaign coffers as part of a scheme prosecutors say involved Turkey's government. Though the related criminal case against Adams is over, it was revealed in court Friday that Arkan has been cooperating in the city Campaign Finance Board's ongoing investigation into allegations that the mayor's 2021 and 2025 campaigns engaged in a variety of straw donor schemes. Arkan, a Turkish national and owner of Williamsburg-based KSK Construction who first pleaded guilty in January, was on the verge of tears as he accepted his sentence during a morning hearing in Manhattan Federal Court. 'I feel profound sadness for the choices I (made),' he said, his voice cracking up. 'I'm sincerely sorry to the New York City taxpayers ... I also apologize to this court.' The cash Arkan must cough up comprises a $9,500 fine and an $18,000 restitution payment to the Campaign Finance Board. According to his indictment, Arkan, 76, hosted a fundraiser at his offices for Adams' first mayoral campaign in May 2021 that drew in a total of $14,000 from 11 individuals. Records show Adams' team then submitted those contributions for public matching funds, netting his campaign an additional $18,000 in taxpayer cash. Prosecutors allege the donations were illegal, as Arkan reimbursed his employees for making them in violation of federal and local laws, resulting in the public matching funds unlocked also being fraudulent. Additionally, prosecutors allege Arkan made the illicit donations to Adams 'at the behest' of Reyhan Ozgur, the Turkish government's ex-consul general in New York, identified in court papers as 'Turkish Official.' According to Adams' now-dismissed corruption indictment, his campaign knowingly solicited and accepted illegal campaign donations and bribes, mostly from Turkish government operatives, in exchange for political favors, like assistance with city building permits. President Donald Trump's administration dropped the Adams indictment as part of a controversial deal that didn't address the merits of the case. The presiding judge, Dale Ho, wrote the deal 'smacks of a bargain' in which the mayor was spared prosecution in exchange for assisting Trump's immigration agenda; Adams has denied any quid pro quo. Arkan's defense attorney, Jonathan Rosen, questioned during Friday's court hearing how it makes sense for the Trump-controlled Manhattan U.S. attorney's office to quash the mayor's case, but move forward with Arkan's, given the overlap between them. 'Nothing can normalize this unfair exercise of prosecutorial discretion,' Rosen said. Ho, who has presided over the Arkan case as well, acknowledged there was 'incongruity' between his indictment and the Adams case. However, the judge rejected the idea Arkan shouldn't face the music as a result. 'It is not a victimless crime,' Ho said, arguing Arkan's offenses violated the public trust in a way that 'breeds cynicism.' In a sentencing submission filed earlier this month, Rosen wrote Arkan 'did not coordinate his decision to use straw donors' with the Turkish government, though he did acknowledge his client was first introduced to Adams via the Turkish consul general. Rosen wrote Arkan devised the straw donor scheme after failing to line up enough individual donors to contribute a minimum of $10,000 that the mayor's campaign had informed him he needed to come up with in order to host the fundraiser. In a letter to the court filed ahead of Arkan's sentencing, the Campaign Finance Board's general counsel, Joseph Gallagher, wrote his crimes 'wasted taxpayer dollars' and 'deteriorated the integrity' of the city's public matching funds program. Gallagher also wrote: 'The Board appreciates that Mr. Arkan is cooperating with the Board's ongoing audit and investigation of the Adams 2021 and 2025 Campaigns.' As part of its ongoing probe, the CFB has denied the mayor millions of dollars in public matching funds for his reelection bid this year, declaring it continues to believe he has 'violated the law' despite the dismissal of his federal case. The mayor maintains he has done nothing wrong and is contesting the matching funds denial. Arkan is the first person to be sentenced as part of a criminal case connected to the mayor's historic indictment. A second man, former Adams administration official Mohamed Bahi, pleaded guilty earlier this week to orchestrating a similar straw donor scheme in which another real estate executive of Uzbek descent pumped illegal cash into the mayor's 2021 campaign by making contributions in the names of employees. Bahi is expected to be sentenced this fall. _____
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Mayor Adams aide Mohamed Bahi pleads guilty in straw donor scheme
Former City Hall aide Mohamed Bahi pleaded guilty to conspiracy in Manhattan on Tuesday for organizing illegal straw donations to Eric Adams's 2021 mayoral campaign — becoming the second person convicted with ties to the public corruption case against the mayor abandoned by the Trump administration. Bahi, 41, copped to one count of conspiracy related to wire fraud in Manhattan federal court, admitting he helped organize a December 2020 fundraiser at which construction company employees made bogus donations to Adams's campaign, for which they'd later be reimbursed. The former fundraiser for Adams, who for a time served as his Muslim community liaison, told Manhattan Federal Judge Dale Ho that a volunteer for Adams's campaign had instructed him and that he knew the campaign would use the cash to seek matching funds from the city 'and that it was wrong.' Bahi was charged in October in a case linked to the sweeping public corruption case against the mayor, which Adams had been set to stand trial on last spring before the Trump administration intervened in a highly controversial arrangement to allow for his cooperation on immigration matters. 'I helped him out a little bit, he had a problem,' Trump said of the arrangement in July, calling the case against the mayor a 'phony indictment' and comparing it to the criminal prosecutions he faced before his reelection. The case against Adams, brought last September, accused him of committing bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, and soliciting contributions from foreign nationals — primarily Turkish government operatives — starting more than a decade ago when he was Brooklyn borough president. The illegal donations from his foreign benefactors were funneled through U.S. citizens and maximized through the city's public matching funds program, the feds had alleged. Adams maintains that he never engaged in any wrongdoing. Bahi was accused in his case of instructing Manhattan construction company owner Tolib Mansurov in late 2020 to donate $10,000 to the mayor's 2021 campaign. In exchange, Mansurov, a prominent member of the city's Uzbek community who has ties to Uzbekistan's government, was told he could get 'influence' with Adams once he took office, prosecutors alleged. Mansurov, who is referred to in court papers as 'Businessman – 4' and hasn't been criminally charged, subsequently proceeded with Bahi's help to devise an illegal straw donor scheme whereby he reimbursed employees to donate that amount to Adams, prosecutors say. After his election, Adams and Mansurov kept in touch, the mayor's indictment alleged. That included in February 2023, when Mansurov allegedly asked the mayor directly to help resolve a stop-work order at a luxury condo project his company was developing. Eight days after that request, the stop-work order was lifted, according to the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office. Adams' indictment had alleged that Bahi — referred to as 'Adams Employee – 1″— quietly informed the mayor when Mansurov was slapped with a subpoena from federal investigators seeking records about his donations. Bahi told Mansurov the mayor 'believed' Mansurov would not cooperate with the feds, his indictment says. Bahi agreed in February to plead guilty to funneling straw donations to the mayor's campaign, but it was unclear how the feds planned to proceed after Adams cut the deal with Trump's Justice Department the same month. His Tuesday plea follows a similar deal the feds reached earlier this year with Erden Arkan, a Turkish-born construction executive currently awaiting sentencing on charges alleging he also reimbursed employees for making straw donations to the mayor's 2021 campaign. As part of his plea deal, Bahi waived his right to appeal and agreed to pay $32,000 in restitution and up to $20,000 in fines. The terms will be set at his sentencing, which was set for Nov. 18. Bahi had no comment leaving court. Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Former aide to Eric Adams pleads guilty to soliciting straw donations for mayor's campaign
NEW YORK — A former aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleaded guilty Tuesday to soliciting straw donations in a case tied to separate corruption charges against Adams that the Trump administration ultimately decided to drop. Mohamed Bahi, who served as City Hall's chief liaison to the Muslim community, admitted in federal court that he helped solicit the illegal donations for Adams' mayoral campaign from employees of a Brooklyn construction company at a December 2020 fundraiser.
Associated Press
6 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Former aide to Eric Adams pleads guilty to soliciting straw donations for mayor's campaign
NEW YORK (AP) — A former aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleaded guilty Tuesday to soliciting straw donations in a case tied to separate corruption charges against Adams that the Trump administration ultimately decided to drop. Mohamed Bahi, who served as City Hall's chief liaison to the Muslim community, admitted in federal court that he helped solicit the illegal donations for Adams' mayoral campaign from employees of a Brooklyn construction company at a December 2020 fundraiser. 'I understood that the Adams campaign would then seek matching funds for those donations,' Bahi told a judge, adding that he knew the employees would be reimbursed and 'that it was wrong.' Bahi, 41, was originally charged in October with witness tampering and destroying evidence as part of a sweeping federal investigation into Adams, culminating in the indictment of the mayor on charges of accepting bribes and campaign contributions from foreign interests in a separate fundraising scheme. At the time, prosecutors said it was 'likely' that others would be charged as part of 'several related investigations.' Then, in February, the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors to drop the charges against Adams, arguing the case was interfering with the mayor's ability to assist in President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. The remarkable intervention prompted protests and resignations from several top prosecutors, including the interim U.S. attorney in Manhattan, who accused Adams of striking a quid pro quo with Trump. Adams has adamantly denied any wrongdoing and pledged to continue his re-election campaign on an independent ballot line. But even as the mayor no longer faces legal consequences, it has remained an open question how prosecutors will handle the web of investigations into his inner circle and campaign apparatus. They have not provided any information about the status of other cases, including investigations that resulted in federal agents seizing phones last fall from the city's police commissioner, multiple deputy mayors and other close advisers to Adams. The owner of a separate construction company, Erden Arkan, pleaded guilty in January to funneling illegal campaign contributions to Adams. He is scheduled for sentencing later this week. Bahi will be sentenced on Nov. 17 on a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces a maximum prison sentence of five years. Bahi and his lawyer declined to comment as he left the courtroom Tuesday. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney in Manhattan did not respond to an emailed inquiry. A spokesperson for Adams also did not return messages seeking comment.
