New York New York | Six Charged With Organizing Illegal Donations to Adams’s 2021 Campaign Share full

ganizing Illegal Donations to Adams’s 2021 Campaign Share full article 79

SixCharged With Organizing Illegal

Donations to Adams’s 2021 Campaign
One defendant knew Mayor Eric Adams when they were police
officers. Prosecutors did not accuse the mayor of knowing about
what they called a scheme to acquire thousands of dollars in extra
public matching funds.

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Prosecutors say the donations were gathered at two August fund-raisers a year
apart. José A. Alvarado Jr. for The New York Times

By Dana Rubinstein , William K. Rashbaum and Susan C. Beachy

July 7, 2023

A retired inspector who worked and socialized with Mayor Eric

Adams when they were both members of the New York Police
Department was charged on Friday with conspiring with four
construction executives and a bookkeeper to funnel illegal
donations to Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign.

The 27-count indictment accuses the defendants, some of whom

had sophisticated knowledge of campaign finance law, of trying to
conceal the source of thousands of dollars in donations by making
them in the names of colleagues and relatives.

The indictment, announced by the Manhattan district attorney,

Alvin L. Bragg, says the group sought influence and perhaps city
contracts, but it does not accuse Mr. Adams or his campaign of
misconduct and does not suggest he was aware of the scheme.

Mr. Bragg said in a statement that the defendants had concocted “a

deliberate scheme to game the system in a blatant attempt to gain
power.”

In addition to the retired police inspector, Dwayne Montgomery,

those charged were Shamsuddin Riza, Millicent Redick, Ronald
Peek and the brothers Yahya and Shahid Mushtaq.

The indictment describes the Mushtaqs as principals in EcoSafety

Consultants, a construction firm that is also charged in the
indictment. Mr. Riza, the operator of a second construction firm
that was separately charged, has also worked with EcoSafety, the
district attorney’s office said. Ms. Redick worked for him as a
bookkeeper. Mr. Peek works at another construction safety firm.

EcoSafety has been a city subcontractor since April 2021, according

to records maintained by the city comptroller’s Office. The city has
paid the firm $470,000 in that time.

Scott Grauman, a lawyer for Shahid Mushtaq and EcoSafety, noted

that his clients had pleaded not guilty pleas at an arraignment on
Friday. “We will be vigorously defending against the allegations,”
he added.

Yahya Mushtaq had not been arraigned, but Mr. Grauman, who
represents him as well, said he would also plead not guilty and
vigorously fight the charges.

Alexei Grosshtern, a lawyer for Ms. Redick, the bookkeeper, said

his client knew only one of the other defendants, Mr. Riza. Ms.
Redick, Mr. Grosshtern added, was unaware of any scheme and
was surprised to be arrested.

A lawyer for Mr. Riza could not immediately be reached for

comment.

Mr. Montgomery is related by marriage to Mr. Riza and is a former

colleague of Mr. Adams’s.

“Montgomery was a colleague of the mayor in the Police

Department whom he knew socially and worked on criminal justice
issues with,” said Evan Thies, a spokesman for the mayor’s 2021
campaign. “Dozens of former police officers and criminal justice
advocates hosted events for the mayor over the course of the
campaign.”

Mr. Montgomery’s lawyer, Anthony Ricco, said his client had no

business with the city and had not asked Mr. Adams, a friend of 35
years, to take any action on his behalf.

“Dwayne Montgomery is a New York City hero, not a

manufactured hero,” Mr. Ricco said, pointing to his client’s three
decades of service with the Police Department and his
commitment to the Harlem neighborhood where he grew up and
where he was respected by the community.

After Mr. Montgomery retired from the department in 2009, he was

the chief executive of a security company, Overwatch Services, for
five years. A City Hall spokesman said Philip Banks III, Mr.
Adams’s deputy mayor for public safety, bought the firm from Mr.
Montgomery around 2015.

Mr. Montgomery’s biography on the archived web page of a

separate security company, Public Safety Reimagined, which he co-
ounded last year, says he is also the director of integrity for Local
237 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which
represents some city workers.

New York City’s complex campaign finance law sits at the heart of
the conduct detailed in the court papers. To diminish the influence
of big donors and to help less-connected candidates get a leg up,
New York City matches the first $250 of a resident’s donation eight
to one.

The defendants are accused of trying to mask large donations by

funneling them through so-called straw donors. That enabled the
campaign to garner more city funds, and potentially amplified the
defendants’ influence with the incoming mayor.

It was unclear how much public money was spent as a result of the
scheme.

On Friday, Mr. Thies thanked prosecutors for “their hard work on

behalf of taxpayers.”

“The campaign always held itself to the highest standards and we

would never tolerate these actions,” Mr. Thies said. “The campaign
will of course work with the D.A.’s office, the Campaign Finance
Board and any relevant authorities.”

The defendants held two fund-raisers for Mr. Adams, one in August
2020 and the other a year later. The second took place after Mr.
Adams had won the Democratic primary, effectively ensuring his
election as mayor.

For each fund-raiser, according to prosecutors, the defendants

recruited straw donors and then reimbursed them.

“I’ll put the money up for you,” Mr. Riza texted one relative,
according to the indictment.

The defendants seemed aware that they were engaging in risky

behavior.

“You gotta be careful cause you gotta make sure you do it through
workers they trust, that’s not gonna talk, because remember a guy
went to jail for that,” Mr. Peek told Mr. Riza at one point, according
to the indictment.

The defendants appeared hopeful that their donations would help

them win contracts on a development project. In July 2021, Mr.
Riza forwarded an email advertising the project to Mr.
Montgomery.

“FYI! This is the one I want, Safety, Drywall, and Security one
project but we all can eat!” Mr. Riza wrote, the indictment says.

It was unclear whether Mr. Adams appeared at the fund-raisers.

But Mr. Montgomery told Mr. Riza that the mayor would be more
likely to do so if they could promise a certain amount of money
would be raised, a practice that is not uncommon among
politicians.

Mr. Adams “doesn’t want to do anything if he doesn’t get 25 Gs,”

Mr. Montgomery said, according to the indictment.

Mr. Adams’s campaign said Mr. Montgomery appeared to be

referring to the standard amount expected of hosts for a general
election fund-raiser.

In a July 2021 phone call, Mr. Riza told Mr. Peek: “I know what the
campaign finance laws is. Make sure it’s $1,000 in your name and
$1,000 in another person’s name because the matching funds is
eight-to-one, so $2,000 is $16,000.”

A correction was made on July 7, 2023 An earlier version of this :

article misstated with whom Winnie Greco, an adviser to Mayor Eric

Adams, served on the management team at the security firm
Overwatch Services, according to an archived version of the
company’s website. It was Philip Banks III, not Dwyane
Montgomery.

When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let
us know at nytnews@nytimes.com . Learn more

Dana Rubinstein is a reporter on the Metro desk covering New York City politics. Before
joining The Times in 2020, she spent nine years at the publication now known as Politico
New York. More about Dana Rubinstein
William K. Rashbaum is a senior writer on the Metro desk, where he covers political and
municipal corruption, courts, terrorism and law enforcement. He was a part of the team
awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News. More about William K. Rashbaum
A version of this article appears in print on July 8, 2023 , Section A , Page 16 of the New York edition with the headline:
Six Indicted Over Claims of Illegal Donations to Adams’s 2021 Campaign . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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Explore Our Coverage of the Adams Administration

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