Federal officials on Thursday announced charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, accusing him of engaging in a multi-year bribery and corruption scheme involving foreign nationals and officials. Adams “solicited and demanded” bribes, including free and heavily discounted luxury travel benefits from a Turkish official, the indictment alleges, noting that the official was seeking Adams’s help pertaining to regulations of the Turkish consulate in Manhattan. For his 2021 mayoral campaign, Adams allegedly disguised campaign contributions from Turkish sources by funneling them through U.
S. citizens, the indictment said. Those funds allowed Adams to qualify for an additional $10 million in public financing.
Prosecutors alleged Adams would tell others to create “fake paper trails” to create the appearance that he paid or was going to pay for benefits that were given to him for free or at a heavily discounted cost in exchange for favors as an elected official. In 2017, when Adams was the Brooklyn Borough president, he allegedly accepted a discounted stay at the five-star St. Regis Istanbul hotel, owned by a businesswoman who attempted to “ingratiate herself” with the mayor, according to the indictment.
Although the suite would have cost him about $7,000 for two nights, the mayor paid around $700, prosecutors alleged. Adams didn’t disclose the trip as an elected official, they added. “As Adams’ prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sough.