The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has launched an investigation into City Hall's commercial real estate lease for possible bribery, according to reports.
This latest investigation, elements of which have been previously reported, is the fifth criminal investigation into Mayor Eric Adams and his inner circle.
As part of the Manhattan DA's investigation, Adams' right-hand woman, chief counsel Ingrid Lewis Martin, had her cellphone seized by authorities when she stepped off a plane at JFK Airport after a trip to Japan last month.
The Post and other media outlets reported on the phone seizure, but details of the investigation were unclear at the time.
Prosecutors are investigating possible bribery, money laundering and other crimes as part of the investigation, officials said later. new york times.
Investigators also seized the cellphones of Adams' chief adviser, as well as four others, including Jesse Hamilton, the city's top real estate official, and Diana Boutros, a private broker involved in city leases. The paper reported.
Officials said the group had all returned from a trip to Japan and their devices were seized at JFK Airport on September 27. Lewis Martin and Boutros have long been close friends.
Investigators from the prosecutor's office also searched Lewis Martin's home and removed documents and electronic devices. Around the same time, she received a grand jury subpoena from federal authorities investigating the mayor's dealings with Turkish officials.
Adams was charged in the second investigation.
“We are imperfect, but we are not thieves, and I believe that ultimately the people of New York City will understand that we have not done anything illegal on the scale or scale that the federal government and the Attorney General's Office are demanding.” “To investigate us,'' a top Adams aide previously said.
Her lawyer dismissed the allegations of wrongdoing.
“These searches and the negative connotations and pre-planned vacations associated with them are baseless,” attorney Arthur Aidala said in a statement to the Times.
“Ingrid Lewis Martin has acted in accordance with the highest ethical standards while serving this city, and in due course all the facts have come to light, supported by evidence, and proven that everything was done properly.” It will be done.”
Adams' aides are facing five investigations: one from the Manhattan Prosecutor's Office, one from the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, and three from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
