Tracking Investigations In Eric Adams’s Orbit
Investigations into Adams and associates
Adams, his campaign and Turkey
Senior City Hall aides and associates
Former police commissioner’s brother
Eric Adams
Timothy Pearson
Philip Banks III
David C. Banks
Sheena Wright
Edward A. Caban
Winnie Greco
Brianna Suggs
Eric Ulrich
Rana Abbasova
Raul Pintos
James Caban
Terence Banks
Dwayne Montgomery
Cenk Öcal
Queens precinct commander
Queens precinct commander
Investigations into Adams and associates
Adams, his campaign and Turkey
Senior City Hall aides and associates
Former police commissioner’s brother
Several federal corruption investigations have reached people in the orbit of Mayor Eric Adams of New York, with Mr. Adams and some of the highest-ranking officials in his administration coming under scrutiny.
Officials with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, which is conducting three of the four federal criminal investigations, have declined to answer questions about the scope of the inquiries.
The full scope of the federal investigations is unclear. Neither the mayor nor others who have had their homes searched, their devices seized or information sought from them have been charged with a crime, and it is possible some of those targeted for searches are only witnesses. The city’s Department of Investigation is involved in all four inquiries.
State-level prosecutions and civil cases have also hit the Adams administration.
Here is a closer look at how people with ties to Mr. Adams, who faces re-election next year, are related to the investigations.
Federal inquiry into Adams, his campaign and ties to Turkey
Eric Adams
Mayor
Devices seized and subpoenaed
Brianna Suggs
Former chief fund-raiser
Reassigned after home search and devices seizure
Rana Abbasova
Aide on leave
Cooperating with inquiry after home search
Cenk Öcal
Former Turkish Airlines executive
Home searched
This investigation, by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, appears to be focused in part on whether the Adams 2021 campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations, and whether Mr. Adams pressured the Fire Department to approve a new high-rise Turkish consulate, despite safety concerns.
Last November, the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, Mr. Adams’s chief fund-raiser at the time, was searched by federal agents. Weeks later, he said she would leave the role. Federal agents also searched the New Jersey homes of Rana Abbasova, an aide in the mayor’s international affairs office and a former liaison to the Turkish community for Mr. Adams, and Cenk Öcal, a former Turkish Airlines executive who served on the mayor’s transition team. Ms. Abbasova is cooperating with the investigation.
F.B.I. agents stopped Mr. Adams outside an event in November and seized his electronic devices. In July, prosecutors served a new round of grand jury subpoenas to Mr. Adams, his office and his campaign for a range of materials.
Federal inquiry into ex-police commissioner’s twin brother
Edward A. Caban
Former police commissioner
Resigned after phone seized
Raul Pintos
Chief of staff under Caban
Phone seized
James Caban
Former police officer
Phone seized
Queens precinct commander
Phone seized
Queens precinct commander
Phone seized
At the request of City Hall, Edward A. Caban resigned as police commissioner this week, just days after federal agents seized his phone. Raul Pintos, who served as chief of staff under Mr. Caban, and the commanders of two Queens precincts also had their phones seized.
This investigation, by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, appears to be focused on a nightclub-security business owned by Mr. Caban’s twin brother, James Caban. A former New York City police officer who was fired in 2001, James Caban also had his phone seized.
Lawyers for Edward Caban have said prosecutors told them he was not a target of the investigation.
Federal inquiry into senior City Hall aides and associates
Timothy Pearson
Senior adviser to the mayor
Information sought from
Philip Banks III
Deputy mayor for public safety
Phone seized
David C. Banks
Schools chancellor
Phones seized
Sheena Wright
First deputy mayor
Phone seized
Terence Banks
Consultant
Home searched and phone seized
This investigation, by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, appears to center on a possible bribery scheme involving a government-relations consulting company run by Terence Banks, a brother of Philip Banks III, the deputy mayor for public safety, and of David C. Banks, the schools chancellor.
Terence Banks also helped raise funds for Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign and was on his transition committee.
The investigation, which appears to be in the early stages, appears to be focused at least partly on city contracts issued under programs geared toward small companies owned by women and members of minority groups.
This month, federal agents seized the phones of several top City Hall aides: the first deputy mayor, Sheena Wright; David Banks, her partner; and Philip Banks. Investigators also sought information from Timothy Pearson, a senior adviser to Mr. Adams who is one of the mayor’s closest confidants.
A lawyer for Terence Banks said he and his client had been “assured by the government” that Mr. Banks was not the target of the investigation. A lawyer for Philip Banks said his client had done nothing wrong. David Banks said he was cooperating with a federal inquiry, and told reporters his lawyer had been informed that Mr. Banks was “absolutely not a target in whatever this investigation is about.”
Other investigations and legal matters
Winnie Greco
Former campaign fund-raiser
Multiple homes searched
Eric Ulrich
Former buildings commissioner
Charged with taking bribes
Dwayne Montgomery
Former police inspector
Pleaded guilty to conspiracy
Timothy Pearson
Senior adviser to the mayor
The fourth federal investigation, run by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, led to a search in February of homes owned by Winnie Greco, a close aide to Mr. Adams who was then his director of Asian affairs and a prominent campaign fund-raiser. City officials said at the time that Ms. Greco would be placed on unpaid leave during the inquiry, but the website The City reported in May she had returned to a government job. The prosecutors’ office declined to answer questions.
Last year, Eric Ulrich, a one-time Department of Buildings commissioner appointed to the post by Mr. Adams, was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on 16 felonies, including conspiracy and taking bribes. He had previously resigned after news of the investigation became public. According to court records, Mr. Ulrich has pleaded not guilty.
In February, a retired police inspector, Dwayne Montgomery, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor state charges in Manhattan, admitting that he had directed so-called straw donors — people who make campaign donations with someone else’s money — to contribute to the mayor’s 2021 campaign.
Mr. Pearson also faces several lawsuits involving sexual harassment accusations. A lawyer representing him denied wrongdoing on his behalf. In recent days, two security guards, whom Mr. Pearson was seen physically attacking at a Midtown migrant shelter last fall, said that they planned to sue him and the city for false arrest and malicious prosecution. A lawyer representing him had not responded for comment.
Earlier this year, a woman sued Mr. Adams, accusing him of asking for oral sex in exchange for career help in 1993 and sexually assaulting her when she refused. Mr. Adams has denied assaulting the woman.
