Eric Adams's buddies indicted for campaign finance fraud

 

 AMNY

Mayor Eric Adams on Monday insisted he’s “very clear” about telling donors to “follow the rules” when giving to his campaigns for public office, after six contributors to his 2021 bid for mayor were indicted Friday for allegedly orchestrating a straw-donor scheme to funnel city matching funds above the legal limit to his campaign.

“I am very clear, the system that I put in place with my compliance attorney, with my team, we must stand up to scrutiny,” Adams said. “And whoever comes to me, all the time, when you look at the number of New Yorkers that have donated to our campaign, I’m very clear, you must follow the rules. And that hasn’t changed. My conversation is consistent. I can sleep well at night because I know that I’m consistent in what I say to people.”

Adams made the remarks in response to a question about fundraising discussion he may or may not have had with Dwayne Montgomery, one of the alleged ring-leaders of the scheme who he knew from when they served on the NYPD together, during an unrelated press conference on July 10. 

Montgomery was named in the indictment — brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office — along with Shamsuddin Riza, Millicent Redick, Ronald Peek, Yahya Mushtan and Shahid Mushta. Also named in the indictment was one entity: EcoSafety Consultants Inc — a site safety management company owned by Yahya Mushtan and Shahid Mushta. 

Prosecutors hit the six individuals with charges including conspiracy, attempted grand larceny, offering a false instrument for filing and attempted offering of a false instrument for filing. Montgomery, Riza, Redick and Shahid Mushtaq  pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court Friday morning, while the other two will be arraigned at a later date.

Adams himself wasn’t named in the indictment and none of the six defendants worked for his campaign, according to Bragg’s office. 

The defendants were alleged to have recruited and bundled contributions from straw donors — those who are reimbursed for donating to political campaigns in their own names to skirt legal contribution limits — to illegally extract more money out of the city’s matching funds program for Adams’ campaign.

The alleged conspirators’ goal was to boost Adams’ into the mayoralty and score lucrative city contracts for businesses they operate.

During the Monday press conference, the mayor acknowledged he knew Montgomery from their time serving as Black ranking members of the NYPD, but made clear his former colleague had not visited him in City Hall since he took office last year.

Adams did say he would see Montgomery at events, as he used to command the NYPD’s 28th Precinct in Harlem and is well known in the community there.

Boosters for Monserrate campaign suing city to get matching funds

 Queens Eagle

A team of Hiram Monserrate campaign contributors are going to bat for the ex-Queens councilmember as he attempts to claw his way onto the June primary ballot.

Queens Democratic District Leader Sonya Harvey and three other Monserrate allies are suing the New York City Campaign Finance Board in Manhattan federal court after the agency denied matching funds to their candidate in his bid for Corona’s Council District 21. 

Monserrate was blocked from appearing on the ballot Wednesday based on a new city law that prohibits former elected officials with public corruption records from holding municipal office. Monserrate was convicted in 2012 of steering council money into a nonprofit and using the cash to fund his successful bid for state senate. He was also convicted of an unrelated domestic violence-related misdemeanor. 

In their lawsuit, filed April 8, the Monserrate allies contend that the new measure, “did not bar Monserrate (or any theoretical candidate who the law might also apply to) from having his contributors’ donations matched from running for office, or from appearing on the ballot.”

Monserrate opted to participate in the city’s eight-to-one matching funds program and raised $18,070 from 282 contributors as of March 11, according to his most recent financial disclosure report. He received nearly all of the contributions before the new law was enacted Feb. 25, the lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs also challenge the constitutionality of the measure intended to keep Monserrate off the ballot.

“Even if the law did address the candidate’s right to appear on the ballot in the first instance (it does not), for perhaps obvious reasons, it is unlikely that there exists ‘any legislation that has been found constitutionally sound when enacted during an election cycle that disqualifies previously qualifying candidates from appearing on a ballot,” the complaint continues, citing case law.

Two other Democrats vying to unseat incumbent Councilmember Francisco Moya have received city matching funds. Ingrid Gomez has so far taken in $117,405, while Talea Wufka has received $43,616.

Harvey and the co-plaintiffs, Malikah Shabazz, Rosa Sanchez and Frank Taylor, are represented by election lawyer J. Remy Green — no fan of Monserrate.

“I would never vote for the guy, but this is not how we do things,” Green told the Eagle. “This is not democratic. This is not constitutional and, ultimately, it’s tragic that the New York Democrats seem to be providing a blueprint for national Republicans to override the will of the people.”