Federal authorities have laid siege to Mayor Eric Adams’ administration for more than a year — and their dragnet appears to have tightened in recent weeks as agents launched a stunning series of raids on Hizzoner’s top lieutenants, closest political allies and most trusted aides.
The Southern District of New York is running several of the investigations. But the feds have remained tight-lipped about the probes — including their aims, potential charges and how they might entwine with each other.
Here’s what we know about the investigations, raids, charges and other legal woes encircling the Adams administration:
Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign
Last November, federal agents burst into 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 acts as Hizzoner’s chief advisor and gatekeeper.
Authorities are said to be investigating Suggs — a key campaign operative who claimed 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 feds’ warrant said they were looking for evidence of theft of federal funds, wire fraud, conspiracy to steal federal funds and conspiracy as part of a public corruption probe examining whether cash was illegally funneled into Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign.
Investigators are also looking into airline upgrades and a plan to fast-track the opening of the Turkish government’s new diplomatic headquarters in Manhattan, sources have said.
This summer, Manhattan federal prosecutors ordered City Hall, Adams’ campaign and the mayor himself to turn over documents, texts and other records tied to the investigation.
No charges have been filed.
The NYPD commissioner and his twin brother
Sources say the feds have targeted now ex-NYPD commissioner Edward Caban and his twin brother, James, as part of a sweeping corruption probe involving influence-peddling.
Caban — who had been with the NYPD for more than three decades — stepped down last week after federal agents showed up at the door of his Rockland County home, waving warrants and demanding his electronic devices.
Authorities did the same thing to ex-cop James Caban, who lives across the street from his brother, as part of an inquiry into James’ work as a “fixer” for ritzy Manhattan restaurants and nightclubs who were running into problems with the police.
Neither have been charged or accused of any wrongdoing.
Close aides 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 during the run of sweeping raids earlier this month.
Similar to the other inquiries, the Banks brothers are suspected of partaking in a corruption and influence-peddling scheme — namely, whether ex-cop Phil Banks had a hand in steering city contracts to 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, the education technology company 21stCentEd, snagged a meeting with the schools chancellor less than a month after hiring Terence to represent them.
Investigators are looking into whether Terence’s firm, the Pearl Alliance, broke the law by using his family connections to help private firms get city contracts, a source told The Associated Press.
None have been accused of a crime.
Winnie Greco
Federal agents hit the Bronx home of another one of Adams’ top aides, Winnie Greco, back in February as they searched for emails and records about trips the mayor made to China during his years as the Brooklyn Borough President.
Greco, then a volunteer who ran the non-profit Sino-America New York Brooklyn Archway Association Corp., had put the trip together, sources said.
It’s not clear what evidence the government was looking to find about Adams’ overseas adventures, or how it might have fit into a larger corruption investigation involving Greco and the mayor, which is said to be run out of the Eastern District of New York.
Greco had previously been scrutinized by the city’s Department of Investigation over allegations she wrongly used her position at City Hall to get perks — such as renovations to her properties.
Eric Ulrich
Eric Ulrich, the former head of the city Department of Buildings, is facing charges of trading political favors in return for more than $150,000 in bribes.
Ulrich, a 38-year-old former councilman from Queens who also worked briefly as Adams’ senior advisor, pleaded not guilty in September 2023 to 16 felonies stemming from a years-long scheme that prosecutors say netted him a premium $10,000 Mets season tickets package, a bespoke suit and a painting by an apprentice of Salvador Dali, among other things.
In return, Ulrich gave co-conspirators access to high-ranking city government officials that 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 the cash and gifts he received from his six co-defendants to live large and fund a gambling habit that involved trips to casinos and illegal gambling dens.
His case is still pending.
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 that accused them of allegedly accepting nearly $200,000 in bribes.
The feds say the pair formed a crooked “secret partnership” with a retired firefighter over two years to fast-track inspections about 30 different projects in the Big Apple in exchange for the payoffs, according to the Manhattan federal court indictment.
The retiree, Henry Santiago Jr., delivered cash-and-check kickbacks to the pair during steakhouse dinners and at the fire prevention bureau’s Brooklyn office, court papers said.
“They allegedly created a VIP lane for faster service that could only be accessed with bribes,” said Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. “That’s classic pay-to-play corruption.”
Authorities charged both 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.