The Mayor of New York City, U.S., has been charged with several fraud-related offences.
Eric Adams has been accused of bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, and accepting illegal campaign donations.
The charges follow a months-long FBI investigation.
Court documents allege that Adams used his position as Mayor to “obtain illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel”.
Adams is pleading not guilty to the charges.
Eric Adams
Eric Adams served as an officer with the New York Police Department for 20 years.
Adams’ political career began as a state senator, representing Brooklyn.
He was elected as Brooklyn Borough President in 2013, before becoming Mayor of New York City in 2022. Adams is a Democrat.
Indictment
Earlier this week, Adams became the first sitting New York City mayor to face criminal charges. He is facing five different criminal counts, mostly relating to fraud and bribery.
According to the indictment, Adams “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits” such as luxury international travel from wealthy international figures, including at least one Turkish government official.
Prosecutors allege that during Adams’ campaign run, he accepted illegal contributions from “foreign-national benefactors sought to cash-in on their corrupt relationships with him.“
In one instance, it’s alleged a Turkish official successfully bribed Adams to open the Turkish consulate – a 36-storey skyscraper – without passing a fire inspection. According to the indictment, at the time, the building would’ve failed the inspection.
The court documents revealed an alleged cover-up scheme that had falsified identities on donation records.
Adams faces a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison for all offences.
FBI
The charges come after 10 months of investigations led by the FBI. Earlier this year, authorities performed raids on senior members of Adams’ administration.
The FBI said it hopes the indictment “sends a powerful message” to those in positions of “profound responsibility”.
FBI Assistant Director James E. Dennehy said when elected officials are “perverted by greed and dishonesty, it robs us of our trust”.
Defence
Adams has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In a press conference on the morning his indictment was made public, Adams said he was “not surprised” and encouraged the public to “wait to hear [his] defence before making any judgments”.
He said he intends to continue to “do the job he was elected to do”.
“I look forward to defending myself and defending the people of this city as I’ve done throughout my entire professional career,” Adams said.
Resignation
Several prominent New York political figures called for Adams to resign.
In a post to social media, fellow Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she does “not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City.”
She said despite Adams promising the day-to-day duties of the office will not change, “nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration.”
