Historic federal indictment against Mayor Adams claims he took $10M in public funds, including $123K in free luxury travel, ritzy perks

Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on charges he allegedly took $10 million in illegal campaign contributions and bribes — including $120,000 in free flights and other ritzy perks — from foreign nationals in exchange for favors, according to a bombshell federal indictment unsealed by Manhattan prosecutors Thursday.

The five-count indictment — the first against a sitting New York City mayor — details an alleged decade-long pattern of corruption by Adams after he was indicted by a grand jury on conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges amid the long-running federal probe.

“In 2014, Eric Adams, the defendant, became Brooklyn Borough President. Thereafter, for nearly a decade, Adams sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him,” the 57-page indictment charges.

“As Adams’s prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that Adams would become New York City’s mayor,” the filing continues.

“Adams agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received.”

In the sprawling indictment, prosecutors laid bare an alleged scheme that helped Adams underwrite his 2021 mayoral campaign while showering him with free hotel rooms, flights on Turkey’s national airline and meals at high-end restaurants.

In exchange, Adams allegedly pressured Big Apple officials to waive inspections and push through approval for the Turkish Consulate in Manhattan, the indictment charges.

As part of the scheme, prosecutors allege, Adams accepted “straw donations” facilitated by senior officials within the Turkish diplomatic establishment in exchange for him and his companions getting free or discounted flights to far-flung destinations such as France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary and Turkey.

He is accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in free flights from a Turkish airline while he was Brooklyn borough president, the indictment charges. At one point, Adams also allegedly paid $600 to stay two nights at a luxury suite in the St. Regis hotel in Istanbul — well below the actual cost of $7,000.

Adams, at times, would allegedly create — and instruct others to create — fake paper trails in order to falsely suggest he’d actually paid for the travel benefits, the indictment states.

Hizzoner also allegedly “compounded his gains” from the illegal campaign contributions by gaming the city’s matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small-dollar donations, the court papers state.

Adams’ campaign received more than $10 million in matching funds as a result of the phony certifications, the indictment alleges.

Meanwhile, prosecutors allege Adams deleted messages with others involved in his alleged misconduct — including, at one point, assuring a co-conspirator that he “always” deleted her text messages, according to the filing.

Hizzoner appeared to resort to chicanery, too, when the feds first came to seize his electronic devices last November, the indictment suggests.

When he turned his personal cellphone over, investigators found it was locked and needed a password to open.

The mayor claimed he’d only just changed the password a day earlier to prevent his staff from accidentally or intentionally deleting its contents amid the ongoing probe, per the indictment.

“But, Adams further claimed, he had forgotten the password he had just set, and thus was unable to provide the FBI with a password that would unlock the phone,” the court papers state.

US Attorney of Southern District of New York Damien Williams told a news conference Thursday that Adams had a duty to disclose gifts he received — but “kept the public in the dark” year after year.

“He told the public he received no gifts, even after he was being showered with them,” Williams said. “This was a multi-year scheme to buy favor with a politician on the rise: Eric Adams.”

In total, Adams is facing five criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national and bribery.

He faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

It wasn’t immediately clear when Adams would have to appear in court in the wake of the indictment. Sources had earlier told The Post he wasn’t expected to turn himself in until early next week.

In total, he is facing five criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national and bribery.

Adams, for his part, has denied any wrongdoing, insisting Thursday that he has no plans to resign and will fight the charges.

“From here, my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city,” he said at a news conference outside Gracie Mansion soon after the indictment was made public.

Eric Adams indicted: Live updates after NYC mayor hit with indictment

“It’s an unfortunate day. And it’s a painful day. But inside all of that is a day when we will finally reveal why, for 10 months, I’ve gone through this. And I look forward to defending myself.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, Hizzoner had insisted the then-looming charges were “entirely false, based on lies.”

Adams, who is facing mounting calls to resign, also claimed he was being targeted for criticizing the Biden-Harris administration over its handling of the migrant crisis that has wreaked havoc on the Big Apple.

The indictment dropped just hours after nearly a dozen FBI agents were spotted swarming Adams’ mayoral home, Gracie Mansion, early Thursday.  

A lawyer for Adams later ripped the FBI search and heavy law enforcement presence as a “spectacle,” saying the feds had come to take one of the mayor’s phones — months after they seized several of his devices amid the probe.

“Federal agents appeared this morning at Gracie Mansion in an effort to create a spectacle (again) and take Mayor Adams phone (again),” the attorney, Alex Spiro, said in a statement. 

“He has not been arrested and looks forward to his day in court. They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in.”

The historic indictment is the extraordinary culmination of weeks of searches, subpoenas and resignations of top City Hall officials that have left the Adams administration in a spiraling crisis.

Three close allies of the mayor, Rana Abbasova, Brianna Suggs and Winnie Greco, were not criminally charged in the indictment but appear to be repeatedly referenced throughout.

Suggs worked as Adams’ scheduler during his time at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Abbasova was his liaison to the Turkish community, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

The federal investigations into Adams and his administration first exploded into the public realm in November last year when the FBI raided Suggs’ Brooklyn home.

The raid sought evidence of straw donor kickbacks by the Turkish government and the Williamsburg-based construction company KSK Construction Group into Adams’ mayoral campaign.

Just days later, the feds seized the mayor’s phones and iPad on the streets of Manhattan as he was leaving an event.

Stay updated with The NYP’s coverage on Mayor Eric Adam’s indictment

Meanwhile, Greco, a top Adams aide, had her Bronx home raided by FBI agents in February, though it wasn’t clear at the time whether it was tied to the Turkey probe.

Over the summer, federal prosecutors subpoenaed Adams, his campaign arm and City Hall to obtain information about the mayor’s schedule, his overseas travel and potential ties to the Turkish government.

Then, on Sept. 4, federal investigators seized electronic devices from the city’s police commissioner, schools chancellor, deputy mayor of public safety, first deputy mayor and other trusted confidantes of Adams — both in and out of City Hall.

It wasn’t clear at the time, though, if those subpoenas targeting top admin officials and Adams’ confidantes were tied to the mayor’s recent indictment or another of the ongoing federal probes.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who are behind many of the probes, have long remained tight-lipped about any potential charges and how, if at all, the investigations may be linked to each other.

No one else, to date, has been charged with or accused of any wrongdoing in the investigations.