NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors charged six people Friday with participating in an alleged scheme to divert tens of thousands of dollars in public funds to the campaign of now New York City Mayor Eric Adams months before his choice.
The indictment, announced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, does not implicate Adams or other current city employees in the alleged collusion.
Instead, it describes a front man donor plot orchestrated by people with businesses in the city who hoped to receive political favors in exchange for the donations.
Among the defendants are a former New York police commander who has known the mayor for decades and the owners of a construction security business that is currently working at a garbage dump on Staten Island.
“We allege there was a deliberate plan to abuse the system, in a brazen attempt to gain power,” Bragg said in a statement. “The New York City Campaign Finance Board program is designed to support our democracy and amplify the voices of New York City voters. When the integrity of that program is corrupted, all New Yorkers pay the price.”
Prosecutors allege the attempt to illegally tamper with the donations was led by Dwayne Montgomery, a former NYPD inspector who currently serves as director of integrity for section 237 of the Teamsters union, which represents city workers.
Montgomery is accused of recruiting friends and relatives to take advantage of the city’s generous matching fund system, which offers an eight-to-one match for the first $250 donated by a city resident.
Montgomery allegedly orchestrated more than twenty front man donations between 2020 and 2021, while also helping to organize fundraisers for Adams. It’s unclear how much money ultimately went to the campaign.
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2023-07-07 19:55:54
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