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Eyeing Brooklyn project, contractors sent illegal donations to mayor: DA
Six indicted in straw donor scheme in bid for Vital Brooklyn gigs
It’s been a rough week for Mayor Eric Adams, but this one wasn’t his fault.
Six people were indicted on 27 counts for allegedly using 29 straw donors to support his 2021 campaign, believing their fundraising would land them construction contracts for a huge public development.
Also indicted was Ecosafety Consultants, a Queens-based site safety management company owned by two of the defendants, Yahya Mushtaq and Shahid Mushtaq.
The Mushtaqs and Dwayne Montgomery, Shamsuddin Riza, Millicent Redick and Ronald Peek face charges of conspiracy, attempted grand larceny and making false statements.
“We allege a deliberate scheme to game the system in a blatant attempt to gain power,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a press release.
The plan, prosecutors said, was to trigger matching funds from the New York City Campaign Finance Board to Adams, which the defendants hoped would give them cachet to work on Vital Brooklyn, a $1.4 billion government-funded development.
It wasn’t the brightest plan: Vital Brooklyn is not even a city project. It is largely funded by the state and was championed by Andrew Cuomo before he was ousted as governor in August 2021.
Adams, who won the mayoral race that year, is not accused of being involved in the scheme. His campaign has pledged to cooperate with the investigation.
According to the indictment, Montgomery recruited friends and relatives to exploit the city’s generous campaign finance system, which offers an eight-to-one match for the first $250 donated by a city resident.
Vital Brooklyn includes numerous components, the most recently filed being a 107-unit apartment building at 680 Winthrop Street by Jeff Levine’s Douglaston Development.
“FYI ! This is the one I want , Safety , Drywall , and Security, one project but we all can eat,” Riza allegedly wrote in a July 2021 email to Montgomery, attaching information about Vital Brooklyn.
Riza and his Bronx-based company, United Brothers Construction Services, were also charged in an unrelated case with conspiring to falsify business records.
In at least one conversation captured by authorities Peek warned Riza to use straw donors who wouldn’t give them up.
“You gotta be careful cause you gotta make sure you do it through workers they trust,” Peek said. “That’s not gonna talk, because remember a guy went to jail for that.”
Indeed, straw donor cases have surfaced repeatedly over the years, to take advantage of public matching funds or to exceed donation limits.
Developer Gerald Migdol’s orchestrated donations led to criminal charges against Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin and his departure from state government. Jona Rechnitz was charged with using straw donors to raise funds for Bill de Blasio in an effort to become a real estate macher.
A spokesperson for Adams’ campaign, Evan Thies, did not respond to calls seeking comment, but released a statement denying any involvement by the mayor.
“There is no indication that the campaign or the mayor is involved in this case or under investigation,” Thies said. “The campaign always held itself to the highest standards and we would never tolerate these actions.”
READ MORE
- https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2022/04/12/lt-gov-brian-benjamin-arrested-over-funds-to-harlem-real-estate-investor/
- https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2022/04/12/lt-gov-brian-benjamin-arrested-over-funds-to-harlem-real-estate-investor/
- https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2017/10/27/jona-rechnitz-says-he-was-given-mayors-cell-told-to-always-be-in-touch/
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the name of Riza’s construction company. It is United Brothers Construction Services (UBCS), not United Brothers Pro Construction Corp.