Federal authorities have been besieging Mayor Eric Adams’ administration for more than a year — and their net appears to have tightened in recent weeks, as agents have launched a series of stunning raids against Hizzoner’s top lieutenants, closest political allies and most trusted aides.
The Southern District of New York is conducting multiple investigations. But the feds have been tight-lipped about the goals of those investigations, the potential charges and how they might unfold.
Here’s what we know about the investigations, raids, indictments and other legal issues surrounding the Adams administration:
Adams 2021 Municipal Campaign
Last November, federal agents raided the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, a 25-year-old fundraiser with close ties to Adams’ inner circle — including Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the so-called Lioness of City Hall who serves as Hizzoner’s chief adviser and gatekeeper.
Authorities are reportedly investigating Suggs — a key campaign member who claims to have raised more than $18 million for the mayor — for a possible kickback scheme involving the Turkish government and a Brooklyn-based construction company.
The federal warrant said they were seeking evidence of theft of federal funds, wire fraud, conspiracy to steal federal funds and conspiracy as part of a public corruption investigation examining whether money was illegally funneled to Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign.
Investigators are also looking into improvements to airlines and a plan to speed up the opening of the Turkish government’s new diplomatic headquarters in Manhattan, sources said.
This summer, federal prosecutors in Manhattan ordered City Hall, the Adams campaign and the mayor himself to turn over documents, texts and other records related to the investigation.
No charges have been filed.
The NYPD Commissioner and his twin brother
Sources say the feds have targeted former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban and his twin brother, James, as part of a broader corruption investigation involving influence peddling.
Caban, who had worked for the NYPD for more than three decades, resigned last week after federal agents showed up at the door of his Rockland County home, brandishing warrants and demanding his electronic devices.
Authorities did the same thing to former police officer James Caban, who lives across the street from his brother, as part of an investigation into James’ work as a “fixer” for upscale Manhattan restaurants and nightclubs that ran into trouble with police.
Neither has been charged or accused of any wrongdoing.
Close collaborators David, Phil and Terence Banks
The three Banks brothers — Schools Chancellor David, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil and private consultant Terence — are also targets of Manhattan federal prosecutors, whose agents seized their electronic devices in a series of high-profile raids earlier this month.
As in the other investigations, the Banks brothers are suspected of participating in a bribery and influence-peddling scheme that involved former police officer Phil Banks helping to steer city contracts to his brother Terence’s clients, sources said.
Since the raids – which also ensnared David Banks’ partner, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright – reports have surfaced that one of Terence’s clients, education technology company 21stCentEd, landed a meeting with the school’s chancellor less than a month after hiring Terence to represent them.
Investigators are looking into whether Terence’s company, Pearl Alliance, broke the law by using his family connections to help private companies win city contracts, a source told The Associated Press.
None have been charged with a crime.
Winnie Greco
In February, federal agents raided the Bronx home of another top Adams aide, Winnie Greco, as they sought emails and documents about trips the mayor took to China during his years as Brooklyn borough president.
Greco, then a volunteer head of the nonprofit Sino-America New York Brooklyn Archway Association Corp., organized the trip, sources said.
It’s unclear what evidence the government was seeking about Adams’s overseas adventures, or how they might fit into a broader corruption investigation involving Greco and the mayor, reportedly being conducted out of the Eastern District of New York.
Greco had previously been investigated by the city’s Department of Investigation following allegations that she improperly used her position at City Hall to obtain benefits, such as renovations to her properties.
Eric Ulrich
Eric Ulrich, the former director of the city’s Department of Buildings, is accused of trading political favors in exchange for more than $150,000 in bribes.
Ulrich, a 38-year-old former Queens city councilman who also worked briefly as a senior adviser to Adams, pleaded not guilty in September 2023 to 16 felonies stemming from a years-long scheme that prosecutors say earned him a $10,000 Mets season-opening package, a custom-made suit and a painting by a Salvador Dali apprentice, among other things.
In exchange, Ulrich gave the co-conspirators access to high-ranking city government officials, which included invitations to exclusive events and dinners — as well as jobs for their family members, fast-tracked projects and a litany of other corrupt practices and actions, prosecutors said.
He allegedly used money and gifts received from his six co-defendants to live in luxury and fund a gambling habit that involved trips to casinos and illegal gambling halls.
His case is still ongoing.
Retired FDNY Chiefs Anthony Saccavino and Brian Cordasco
Saccavino and Cordasco, once the two highest-ranking members of the FDNY’s Bureau of Fire Prevention, were hit with a federal indictment Monday accusing them of allegedly accepting nearly $200,000 in bribes.
Federal authorities say the couple formed a “secret partnership” with a retired firefighter for two years to expedite inspections of about 30 different projects in the Big Apple in exchange for bribes, according to the indictment in Manhattan federal court.
The retiree, Henry Santiago Jr., gave the couple cash and check bribes at dinners at steakhouses and the Brooklyn Fire Prevention Bureau, court documents show.
“They allegedly created a VIP line for faster service, accessible only through bribes,” said Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. “This is a classic case of bribery.”
Authorities charged the two men with conspiracy to solicit and receive a bribe, solicitation and receipt of a bribe, honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and making false statements. They have pleaded not guilty.
