More Turkey Trouble for Mayor Adams

 THE CITY

Eric Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign accepted donations from three members of a foundation incorporated by Bilal Erdogan, a son of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and whose board members include Erdogan’s daughter, Esra Albayrak. The campaign is at the center of an FBI probe looking into whether it conspired with the Turkish government to accept illegal foreign contributions.

Adams on Wednesday acknowledged meeting Erdogan while he served as Brooklyn Borough President in response to questions from THE CITY. Under Erdogan, the U.S. State Department has repeatedly cited Turkey for widespread human rights violations including reports of arbitrary killings, torture, and the detention of political opponents, journalists and activists. 

Campaign records show that between 2018 and 2021 the Adams campaign received $6,000 from three U.S. citizens who are board members of the charity, the Turken Foundation, which registered as a foreign agent with the Department of Justice last year. Turkish opposition leaders have alleged that the foundation is a vehicle for the Erdogan family to stash away millions outside the country. (The Adams campaign returned $1,000 to one of the individuals for exceeding a $2,100 contribution limit.)

The Erdogan-linked group’s stated mission is to help house Muslim students in the U.S. and “promote cross-cultural relationships.”

In July 2018, Adams’ mayoral campaign also received $12,600 in contributions from two board members of the Turkish American Steering Committee (TASC), an advocacy group previously co-chaired by an associate of Erdogan’s political party. The Adams campaign had to give back more than $8,000 of those contributions due to campaign contribution limit rules.

 As part of their probe into potential foreign influence in the 2021 mayoral race, federal investigators are currently looking into whether the Turkish government used U.S. citizens as straw donors to mask foreign campaign contributors. Neither Adams nor any member of his campaign have been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

The donors are all volunteers to the Turken Foundation and TASC and did not list those organizations as employers when making the contributions.

THE CITY contacted the three donors from the Turken Foundation. One of them, foundation treasurer Memis Yetim, said that a “close friend” of his, whom he declined to name, may have handled his donation, which lists him as living in the non-existent city of “Staten Island, NJ,” using the New Jersey street address where Yetim is registered to vote.

The Adams campaign submitted his donation to the Campaign Finance Board for public matching funds, according to campaign records. Only New York City residents are eligible to qualify for the City’s $8-to-$1 matching fund program.

 

Turkey in Mayor Adams latest straw donors scandal

New York Times 

Federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. are conducting a broad public corruption investigation into whether Mayor Eric Adams’s 2021 election campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations, according to a search warrant obtained by The New York Times.

The investigation burst into public view on Thursday when federal agents conducted an early-morning raid at the Brooklyn home of the mayor’s chief fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs. Ms. Suggs is a campaign consultant who is deeply entwined with efforts to advance the mayor’s agenda.

Investigators also sought to learn more about the potential involvement of a Brooklyn construction company with ties to Turkey, as well as a small university in Washington, D.C., that also has ties to the country and to Mr. Adams.

According to the search warrant, investigators were also focused on whether the mayor’s campaign kicked back benefits to the construction company’s officials and employees, and to Turkish officials.

The agents seized three iPhones and two laptop computers, along with papers and other evidence, including something agents identified as “manila folder labeled Eric Adams,” seven “contribution card binders” and other materials, according to the documents.

There was no indication that the investigation was targeting the mayor, and he is not accused of wrongdoing. Yet the raid apparently prompted him to abruptly cancel several meetings scheduled for Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., where he planned to speak with White House officials and members of Congress about the migrant crisis.

Instead, he hurriedly returned to New York “to deal with a matter,” a spokesman for the mayor said.

Appearing at a Día de Muertos celebration at Gracie Mansion on Thursday night, Mr. Adams defended his campaign, saying that he held it “to the highest ethical standards.”

He said he had not been contacted by any law enforcement officials, but pledged to cooperate in any inquiry. Mr. Adams said that he returned from Washington to be “on the ground” to “look at this inquiry” as it unfolded.

The warrant suggested that some of the foreign campaign contributions were made as part of a straw donor scheme, where donations are made in the names of people who did not actually give money. Investigators sought evidence to support potential charges that included the theft of federal funds and conspiracy to steal federal funds, wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, as well as campaign contributions by foreign nationals and conspiracy to make such contributions.

Mr. Adams has boasted of his ties to Turkey, most recently during a flag-raising he hosted for the country in Lower Manhattan last week. The mayor said that there were probably no other mayors in New York City history who had visited Turkey as frequently as he has.

“I think I’m on my sixth or seventh visit,” he said. At least one of those visits happened while he was Brooklyn borough president, when the government of Turkey underwrote the excursion, The Daily News reported.

Ms. Suggs, who could not be reached for comment, is an essential cog in Mr. Adams’s fund-raising machine, which has already raised more than $2.5 million for his 2025 re-election campaign.

A person with knowledge of the raid said agents from one of the public corruption squads in the F.B.I.’s New York office questioned Ms. Suggs during the search of her home.

An F.B.I. spokesman confirmed that “we are at that location carrying out law enforcement action,” referring to Ms. Suggs’s home in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.

The agents also served Ms. Suggs with a subpoena directing her to testify before a federal grand jury hearing evidence in Manhattan.

Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan, declined to comment.

The construction company was identified in the warrant, portions of which were obtained by The Times, as KSK Construction Group in Brooklyn. Individuals who listed their employer as KSK donated nearly $14,000 to Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign, according to campaign finance records. A person who answered the telephone at the company declined to comment.

Charles Kretchmer Lutvak, a spokesman for Mr. Adams, said Ms. Suggs was not an employee of City Hall and referred calls to the mayor’s campaign team.

“The campaign has always held itself to the highest standards,” said Vito Pitta, a lawyer for Mr. Adams’s 2021 and 2025 campaigns. “The campaign will of course comply with any inquiries, as appropriate.”

Mr. Pitta added: “Mayor Adams has not been contacted as part of this inquiry.”

The search warrant sought financial records for Ms. Suggs and any entity controlled or associated with her; documents related to contributions to the mayor’s 2021 campaign; records of travel to Turkey by any employee, officer or associate of the campaign; and documents related to interactions between the campaign and the government of Turkey, “including persons acting at the behest of the Turkish government.”

Investigators specified documents relating to Bay Atlantic University, a tiny Turkish-owned institution that opened in Washington, D.C., in 2014. The following year, Mr. Adams visited one of the school’s sister universities in Istanbul, where he was given various certificates and was told that a scholarship would be created in his name.

The warrant also sought electronic devices, including cellphones, laptops or tablets used by Ms. Suggs.

THE CITY  

 Internal documents obtained by THE CITY show that city regulators repeatedly asked Eric Adams’ mayoral campaign about a cluster of donations that are now part of a federal probe into one of the mayor’s top fundraisers.

The investigation, which triggered an FBI raid at the home of Adams’ campaign operative Brianna Suggs on Thursday, is examining contributions to the mayor’s 2021 campaign that came from employees of KSK Construction Company, a Brooklyn-based firm whose founders hail from Turkey, according to The New York Times.

The Times reported that the federal government is looking into whether the Adams team worked with the construction company and the Turkish government to inject foreign money into the campaign using straw donors — people listed as having donated but who did not actually contribute or who were reimbursed for their donations. 

Adams, who is not known to be a target of the probe, has said he’s traveled to Turkey at least a half dozen times, including twice over a five-month span in 2015 when he served as Brooklyn Borough President.

The KSK Construction employees donated at a May 7, 2021 fundraiser organized by an owner of the company, Erden Arkan, which was held at the home of Abraham Erdos in Brooklyn. Erdos, who was listed in Adams campaign finance filings as “retired,” had donated $2,000 to Adams’ mayoral campaign a year earlier. 

In total, the event raised $69,720 for Adams’ mayoral campaign from 84 donors, and the campaign used those donations to seek $63,760 in public matching funds, according to campaign documents obtained by THE CITY.

KSK did not respond to requests for comment via phone and email. But when contacted by THE CITY Thursday, multiple people listed in Adams 2021 campaign donation records as KSK employees either said they did not donate to Eric Adams or refused to state whether they had ever donated.

Sertac Varol, a Queens resident whose name appears in campaign records, told THE CITY that he did not recall donating to the Eric Adams campaign, and that he doesn’t believe he has ever donated to a political campaign in his life.

Abigal Nitka, a woman listed as a KSK engineer and lawyer, told THE CITY, “We’re innocent,” after declining to respond to questions.

Reached by phone, KSK employee Murat Mermer responded, “I don’t wanna comment.”

Arkan, an owner of KSK Construction, gave $1,500 to Adams’ campaign at the May 7, 2021, fundraiser, records show. He didn’t respond to a message sent via LinkedIn seeking comment, and an attorney who represented him in a recent real estate lawsuit didn’t respond to an email sent late Thursday.

KSK Construction is described in a construction publication as a 20-year-old spin-off of Kiska Construction, where Arkan and some of his partners previously worked. Kiska has been involved in a number of mammoth building projects across the city, according to the firm’s LinkedIn page, including the replacement of the Third Avenue Bridge over the Harlem River and creating the first section of the High Line park in Manhattan’s Chelsea. 

Records from New York City’s Campaign Finance Board show that board staff asked the Adams’ campaign six times over five months to explain who had connected the Adams campaign with 10 donations from KSK Construction employees totaling $12,700, all made at the May 2021 event weeks before Adams’ victory in the mayoral Democratic primary.

Campaigns are obligated to respond to such CFB inquiries within 30 days and explain their sources of funds, according to a Campaign Finance Board webinar. But in each instance, the Adams campaign failed to respond.

In a text message to THE CITY, Evan Thies, Adams’ 2021 campaign spokesperson, defended his team’s conduct. “As we have discussed extensively, contributors to campaign-sponsored events do not have intermediaries,” said Thies.  

He added, regarding the board’s inquiries: “None of those inquiries were flagged as possible straw donors. The inquiries were about possible unreported intermediaries, of which there were none required to be reported. The campaign appropriately responded to each and every flag made by the CFB as required.”

NY Post

The fundraiser whose Brooklyn home was raided as part of a federal probe into possible illegal contributions to Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign is a 25-year-old recent grad on a meteoric rise in New York City’s Democratic politics.

Brianna Suggs — who graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Science in biology in 2020 — has close ties to the mayor’s inner circle, including to Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the so-called Lioness of City Hall who acts as Adams’ chief advisor and gatekeeper.

One source even described her as Lewis-Martin’s political “goddaughter.”

Suggs been touted as a key campaign consultant and fundraiser for Adams — but sources said the young operative’s lack of experience raised eyebrows during the 2021 mayoral race, with some attributing her apparently elevated status to her political connections.

“It was pretty clear she was there because of who she knew,” another source said, adding Suggs’ position was part of the “incestuous” Brooklyn political clubhouse.

“The guy was running for mayor so you’d think he would have some marquee fundraiser,” the source added.

Suggs was brought on as an intern at Brooklyn Borough Hall in 2017 when Adams was Borough President and Lewis-Martin was his deputy.

She was elevated to the post of special liaison the following year and worked on women’s health for the next three years, according to her LinkedIn.

The young political consultant then moved on to Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign, where she boasted of raising $18.4 million. His campaign spent a total of $18.5 million, according to campaign records.

She made more than $150,000 from the 2021 mayoral campaign and Adams’ 2025 re-election campaign, records show.

“She’s a close person [to Adams and Lewis-Martin] who might not be qualified for the job, that was the vibe,” the second source said.

“In the early days of Eric’s campaign as things got more serious they bought on some other folks,” the source said. “It was sorta odd some people would raise money through her and others with other folks. To have two people was weird and a little bit redundant.”

Movement to bar corrupt pols from running for office again

From CBS 2:

Two members of the New York City Council are introducing a bill to keep felons off the ballot.

As WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell reported, Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-15th) of the Bronx thinks when it comes to corruption, it should be one strike and you’re out. Once you are convicted of betraying the public trust, Torres thinks you should be banned from running for city office.

“Public office is a privilege,” Torres said. “It is not a right. It is not an entitlement.”

Torres said he believes in second chances, but not in this case.

“I’m an advocate of redemption, but redemption should mean that you have the ability to enjoy your life as a public citizen,” he said.

Torres is troubled by the fact that a corrupt candidate could receive public money to campaign.

$3/4M taxpayer money blown on worthless race

From the Daily News:

City Public Advocate Letitia James burned through nearly all of the more than $750,000 in taxpayer matching funds in a lopsided race against a poorly funded opponent — spending $500,000 on a single Election Day expenditure, public records show.

James, a Democrat who cruised to reelection over Republican political consultant J.C. Polanco, spent about $1.7 million in total on the race, according to filings with the Campaign Finance Board. She crushed Polanco, her nearest competitor — earning 812,234 votes to his 172,601.

James was widely expected to win her reelection bid — but still filed a statement of need requesting the entire amount of matching funds, citing Polanco as a strong opponent. In doing so, she noted media coverage about the would-be pol — including stories about how little money he had raised.

Candidates are required to return matching funds they do not spend on their race — but James has just $39,018 left in her coffers, meaning the taxpayers will get back little, if anything.

James spent a whopping half-million in one day — Nov. 7, the date of the general election, when she reported the $500,000 payment to Global Strategies Group. Her campaign said the payment was for digital ads that appeared on social media sites, community and ethnic newspaper sites and other news sites — including the Daily News website.

DeBlasio needs matching funds to stay humble

From DNA Info:

Mayor Bill de Blasio stood by his decision to take on more than $2.5 million in matching funds from taxpayers — saying he'd be forced to turn to big donors instead of everyday New Yorkers to fund his reelection, despite having raised millions more than his nearest competitor.

Speaking on WNYC's the Brain Lehrer show Friday morning, de Blasio, who had raised $4.78 million in private funds according to city records, said he didn't take the upcoming 2018 election for granted and said he relied on the city's matching funds program to focus fundraising efforts on small donations.

"You cannot assume the outcome. People who do that are sorely disappointed," he said.

"We focused on house parties and we focused on reaching out to every day New Yorkers," he said. "Now if you had said...you’re not going to have access to a serious amount of matching funds than that would encourage me or any other candidate to go try and find larger donations and that's not the world I think we should be creating."

The city's campaign finance board approved $2,579,427 in public funds to go towards de Blasio's reelection campaign on Thursday.

He'd be forced to turn to big donors? I guess all the developers and unions are small potatoes?

Van Bramer drops out of matching funds program

From Progress Queens:

New York City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) continues to make fundraising appeals for his 2017 campaign committee to reëlect, even after he has reportedly dropped out of the matching funds program of the New York City Campaign Finance Board.

In an e-mail distributed on Thursday, Councilmember Van Bramer's campaign committee sought campaign contributions, in part, because, "I need your help in order to face the very real and immensely important fights that are ahead. I've spent this year organizing the resistance against the devisive retoric from the White House."

The e-mail apparently referred to a protest march that Councilmember Van Bramer spearheaded last November to denounce the politics of then-President elect Donald Trump as an affront to "Queens values," a vague political construct that appeared to overlook the prominent conservative sensibility that exists amongst voters in the borough of Queens.

Councilmember Van Bramer's campaign fundraising drive continues in the face of a news report that his campaign committee has reportedly exceeded a fundraising cap and has dropped out of the Municipal matching funds program, according to an article published by The Gotham Gazette. Councilmemmber Van Bramer is a member of the City Council's Progressive Caucus.

For this report, Councilmember Van Bramer's office did not answer a request to explain why the incumbent candidate dropped out of matching funds program.

Council trying to reform campaign finance rules

From the Daily News:

A package of bills to tighten the city’s campaign finance rules is set to be introduced in the City Council this week.

The legislation would bar more people from giving big bucks to candidates because they do business with the city, and slap more restrictions on fundraising by such donors.

Right now, owners of firms with city business are bound by strict contribution limits - but their parent companies and those companies’ execs aren’t covered. That means real estate titans who hide their business in multiple LLCs can get out of the rules.

People with city business can only give $400 for mayor and other citywide offices - compared to $4,950 for other donors. Under the new rules, when one business owns a chunk of another business that deals with the city, the parent company’s officials would have to follow the lower limits.

Another bill would ban candidates from getting taxpayer matching funds for donations raised by fundraisers who do business with the city.

Sanders is a campaign finance scofflaw

From the Daily News:

Queens state Sen. James Sanders owes nearly $20,000 to the city Campaign Finance Board for violations during his 2009 City Council run, records show.

Sanders, a Democrat, was fined $10,113 in 2013 and ordered to pay back more than $21,000 in public campaign funds after he failed to report transactions and accepted improper corporate contributions.

So far, Sanders has yet to pay the fine but has returned all but $8,953 of the public funds, board spokesman Matt Sollars said.

When will he give up?

Hey Crapper~

Liu loses again. (Redundant, eh?)

I wonder what happened to the millions in Sanitation Fines he deadbeat on. I know he had plenty of $ left after his campaign, which makes his complaint about the matching funds seem odd.

- D

P.S. John got 7% of the vote for mayor. Of course that was 7% of those who actually bothered to show up. I think that equates to .000007% of NY'ers

John Liu makes federal case out of matching funds

From the Daily News:

FORMER CITY Controller John Liu took the Campaign Finance Board to court Wednesday, charging that it imposed a “death sentence” on his mayoral candidacy by denying him $3.8 million in public matching funds.

The federal lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, says the board’s “arbitrary” action caused Liu to suffer “extreme mental and emotional anguish” and “incalculable damage” to his “professional reputation and earning potential."

It also claims the denial of funding violated his campaign’s First Amendment right to free speech.

In its Aug. 5 decision, the board cited what it called “pervasive” violations of fundraising laws by Lieu’s campaign.

The decision followed a board investigation and, separately, the convictions of Liu’s campaign treasurer and a contributor for taking part in an illegal fundraising scheme.

But Liu was never charged, and his campaign said the board’s allegations of wrongdoing by his campaign were minor and never proven - while other candidates accused of worse routinely have received public funding.

Hobbled by the lack of money, Liu finished fourth in the Democratic primary on Sept. 10 with just 7% of the vote.

Liu’s lawyer, Richard Emery, said Wednesday that the board “crippled his campaign.”

Katz returns matching funds - as required

From the Daily News:

Held up once too often as a glutton for taxpayer money in this space, incoming Queens Borough President Melinda Katz has finally returned $51,630 in excess public campaign finance funding. Listen for the sound of one hand clapping.

Katz was one of a number of elected officials who won primaries and then moved on to the general election certain of victory. By law, the Campaign Finance Board gave all of them new funds — courtesy of the taxpayers — for the second contest.

Some immediately and correctly returned the checks as superfluous because they were guaranteed of winning. Others did so after some gentle prodding by these quarters.

Then there was Katz. She held on to every penny until, finally, many weeks later, she threw in the towel — and sent the board a check for $51,630.

That’s chump change to a politician used to public funding, but real money to the rest of us.

She's actually required to send back unused matching funds. So one hand clapping is being too generous.

Matching funds in non-competitive races

From Crains:

It's an aspect of the city's campaign finance program that has been attacked by editorial boards, and been used as an argument by Albany Republicans as to why the city's taxpayer matching funds program shouldn't go statewide. The city's campaign finance system is intended to level the playing field for candidates by matching small-dollar contributions with taxpayer money. But often, entrenched incumbents running against minimal opposition can get heavy payouts in public dollars.

In order to get the taxpayer matching funds, a campaign needs to have at least one opponent on the ballot. Under a change in the city charter approved by the voters in 2010, getting on the ballot has become easier, because the number of valid signatures required in various races has been halved.

Candidates have the option of turning down the money. In 2009, for instance, Council Speaker Christine Quinn turned down matching funds in her council reelection campaign, even as her two opponents took them. Ms. Quinn won re-election, and is now running for mayor.

On the other hand, in 2009 Brooklyn Councilman Lew Fidler got more than $88,000 in matching funds for a general election against a poorly funded Republican, and was subsequently knocked by the Daily News editorial board for spending much of it. Mr. Fidler won a third term, although he later lost a state Senate race to a Republican in a larger Brooklyn district.

Meanwhile, some City Council incumbents who are expected to cruise to re-election did fill out forms seeking the maximum amount of taxpayer matching funds and stating they face viable challenges. The list includes Brooklyn Councilwoman Darlene Mealy and Manhattan Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez.

John Liu denied matching funds

From Crains:

Comptroller John Liu will have $3.5 million less than expected to spend on television advertising, door-to-door canvassing and mailers touting his mayoral candidacy after the city's Campaign Finance Board voted Monday to deny his campaign public matching funds.

The board denied matching funds to Mr. Liu's campaign, citing evidence of pervasive violations of campaign finance laws. Mr. Liu's campaign treasurer and a prominent fundraiser were convicted earlier this year of lying to federal authorities about reimbursing contributions in a straw-donor scheme. Mr. Liu has not personally been accused of any wrongdoing, but the CFB says the responsibility to uphold campaign finance laws lies with the candidate.

"The choice to withhold payment does not require a finding that the candidate has personally engaged in misconduct," board Chairman Joseph Parkes said in a statement. "Under the [law] and board rules, the actions of a campaign's treasurer or other agents are legally indistinguishable from the campaign."

Vito getting taxpayer cash

From the NY Post:

Taxpayers may soon shell out more than $120,000 to Vito Lopez.

The disgraced former Assemblyman, who’s running for the City Council, has joined the public campaign-finance program, making him eligible for 6-to-1 matching funds, officials said yesterday.

Lopez claims he’s raised $20,135 in eligible funds.

Can Johnny's cash contributions be trusted?

From the Daily News:

Cash is king for Controller John Liu’s mayoral campaign.

While most campaign contributors write checks to their chosen candidates, records show that Liu has received 895 donations in cash — far more than other candidates.
The donations, totaling $65,000, are worth $121,240 with the city’s generous matching funds program — and the haul is raising red flags for watchdogs.

“With the campaign’s funny money issues, it’s unfathomable that so many contributions are in cash,” said Dick Dadey, of Citizens Union, a government watchdog group. “Cash is not traceable or verifiable.”

Liu is under scrutiny in the wake of the convictions Thursday of two campaign aides charged with funneling illegal contributions through straw donors.

Liu has not been charged in the case but law enforcement sources said Friday that the investigation into Liu’s campaign is continuing.

Liu buddies convicted

From DNA Info:

A former aide and a fundraiser for City Comptroller John Liu were both found guilty in federal court on Thursday of helping to concoct a straw-donor scheme to benefit Liu's campaign, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Donor Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan, 47, and former Liu campaign treasurer Jia “Jenny” Hou, 26, were accused of skirting campaign finance limits and defrauding the city of matching funds by setting up "straw donors" to Liu's campaign.

Those straw donors allegedly gave money in groups to Liu's campaign and were reimbursed at a later date by the real donors.

“As the jury found, Jia Hou and Oliver Pan stuck a knife into the heart of New York City’s campaign finance law by violating the prohibition against illegal campaign contributions, all to corruptly advantage the campaign of a candidate for citywide office," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a press release.

"Cases like this give the people of New York yet another reason to be troubled by the electoral process, and they have a right to demand fair, open, and honest elections untainted by cynical subversion of campaign finance laws."

Pan was ultimately found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and attempted wire fraud, and Hou was found guilty of attempted wire fraud, making false statements and obstruction of justice. She was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Pan now faces a maximum of 40 years in prison, and Hou faces up to 45 years, according to a spokeswoman from Bharara's office.

Liu may not get matching funds

From the NY Post:

Operating largely under the radar, Comptroller John Liu has pulled off an amazing feat in the race for mayor by filing claims that would entitle him to $3.4 million in public matching funds.

Liu’s accomplishment is impressive on several fronts.

The $564,400 he has amassed for matching purposes is second only to the $637,038 rounded up by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who leads in the polls and has raised twice as much overall as her less successful rival.

Liu has concentrated on smaller contributions and has tapped donors outside the wealthy Manhattan core — particularly in Asian-American strongholds that include his base in Flushing, Queens — to haul in about $3.2 million. He’s got $2 million left.

“That was our whole fund-raising strategy,” confided one Liu ally.

Donations from city residents are matched on a generous six-to-one basis, up to $1,050 for every $175 contributed.

So the more small donations, the higher the match.

Liu hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing himself.

But the CFB rules cover staffers as well as candidates.

In Chapter 5 of the CFB regulations, one reason cited for an “ineligibility determination” would be “if the participant or an agent of the participant has been found by the Board to have committed fraud in the course of the program . . .”

If [Jenny] Hou gets convicted, the Campaign Finance Board will be in a difficult position with regards to Liu.

As a guardian of the public funds, it’ll have to decide if there was enough evidence to trigger the ineligibility provision. At the same time, the agency doesn’t want to be accused of disenfranchising voters who are supporting one of the four major contenders in the Democratic race.

Baldeo charged with corruption

From the NY Times:

A district leader and former City Council candidate in Queens, Albert J. Baldeo, surrendered to federal authorities Wednesday morning to face corruption charges, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Mr. Baldeo is accused of using phantom donors to funnel illegal campaign contributions to his unsuccessful 2010 campaign for City Council in order to fraudulently increase the amount of matching funds provided by the city, federal prosecutors said. He is being charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, attempted mail fraud, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and obstruction of justice, officials said.

No more matching funds for Johnny

From the NY Post:

Even if he makes it past the widely publicized federal investigation of his campaign finances, Comptroller John Liu is in for a rough ride if he intends to stay in elective office.

Sources say the Campaign Finance Board isn’t likely to hand over public matching funds for his next run without a fight.

“They’ll move heaven and earth not to pay him,” said one source with insight into how the CFB operates.

Liu raised more than $2 million for what was to be the race to succeed Mayor Bloomberg, and had $1.6 million left as of mid-January.

With his campaign treasurer and one of his contributors facing federal charges of trying to scam the matching-funds system, most political observers are betting Liu will abandon the mayoral contest and try to hold on to the job he’s got.

Despite all his problems, he’d be a formidable candidate for re-election if the feds don’t nail anyone else.

The embattled comptroller shouldn’t anticipate any further help from the city’s generous matching program, where a hefty 6-to-1 return is made available for every personal contribution up to $175.

Sam's got Johnny's back

From the NY Post:

Many of the low-paid maids, truck drivers and janitors who donated to embattled Comptroller John Liu’s campaign coffers are connected to businessman Sam Chang, the budget hotel king of New York, records show.

Liu, a mayoral hopeful, received at least $29,600 from donors who owe some or all of their income to Chang, according to 2013 campaign data from the city Campaign Finance Board.

The donations from Chang, his employees and business associates, come as investigators from the US Attorney’s Office are swarming around Liu’s campaign records looking for fund-raising violations and possible illegal overseas contributions.

Chang, who has run as many as 37 midrange and budget hotels in the city, had no comment, according to a secretary at his Great Neck office. He personally gave Liu $800 on July 1.

Six other employees of Chang’s company, McSam Hotel Group, also donated $800 on July 9, records show, and another had donated in June.

Also, on July 9, six employees of Chang’s Comfort Inn Flushing each gave $800.