The city Campaign Finance Board has once again rejected Mayor Eric Adams’ request for campaign matching funds, as it significantly expands its investigation into Adams’ political fundraising following a trail of evidence revealed by THE CITY.
In an April 15 letter, the CFB stood by its prior decision not to award Adams $4 million in matching funds sought by his reelection campaign, citing “reason to believe that Eric Adams has, in the course of public funds program participation, engaged in conduct detrimental to the Program that is in violation of federal, state and/or City law, including Campaign Finance Act and Board Rules.”
In a separate missive, the Campaign Finance Board has asked Adams’ election lawyer for voluminous records about a host of fundraising activities connected to eight individuals, all of which were first exposed by THE CITY, as well as three others involved in a case in which a Chinese billionaire pleaded guilty last year to orchestrating straw donations to Adams and other U.S. politicians.
When first rejecting Adams for matching funds in December, the board had relied primarily on the indictment brought by the Manhattan U.S. attorney against Adams alleging that $10 million in matching funds Adams obtained for his 2021 campaign were tainted by illegal straw donations.
Following Judge Dale Ho’s dismissal of the case earlier this month, in the new letter obtained by THE CITY via the Freedom of Information Law, the CFB’s director of auditing and accounting, Danielle Willemin, made clear the dismissal would have no bearing on their rejection of matching funds, and cited the Trump administration’s extraordinary actions to dismiss the criminal corruption charges against him.
Willemin noted that the board had looked at a host of records related to the federal criminal case against Adams, including the Trump Justice Department’s memo ordering the Manhattan U.S. Attorney to dismiss the case, and the U.S. attorney’s resignation letter after refusing to comply, in which she called the deal an illegal quid pro quo.
Adams is running for reelection as an independent in the general election, after declining to seek a spot on the ballot for the June Democratic primary.
Among the subjects of the expanding Campaign Finance Board inquiry are former Adams Asian community liaison Winnie Greco and two key figures in THE CITY’s investigation of Adams’ operation at the New World Mall in Flushing, Queens, Lian Wu Shao and Tian Ji Li.
Winnie Greco spoke at a Gracie Mansion Lunar New Year celebration, Feb. 8, 2022. Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
Greco’s Bronx homes were raided by the FBI and city Department of Investigation in 2023, part of an ongoing investigation by the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney.
The board is escalating its scrutiny of Adams fundraising events investigated by THE CITY, including a banquet at Shao’s Long Island home and four other gatherings where THE CITY’s reporting found evidence of fraudulent efforts to obtain public matching funds. The CFB’s program provides $8 for every $1 a campaign raises from New York City residents up to $250 and puts strict limits on donations and spending.
Stating that the review is part of its ongoing assessment of whether Adams’ reelection campaign will be eligible for public matching funds, Jesse Schaffer, CFB’s director of special compliance, demanded the campaign provide lease and other documentation regarding Greco’s use of a campaign office in the New World Mall. Adams attended several fundraisers at the mall’s Royal Queen banquet hall, and in 2023 THE CITY quoted a low-wage worker at the mall stating that she’d been reimbursed in cash for a $249 donation to Adams’ campaign.
The CFB requires all donors and campaigns in the matching funds program to certify that contributions come from their own funds.
The mall is owned by Lian Wu Shao, and CFB also demanded documentation related to an Aug. 8, 2021 fundraising event “at or near” Shao’s home that was the subject of an investigation by THE CITY. The event brought in nearly $55,000 from 231 donors reported to the Campaign Finance Board in the Adams campaign’s request for matching funds — many of them low-wage mall workers, nearly all of whom donated $249 each.
The campaign told THE CITY the event was a house party whose spending and lead fundraiser did not need to be disclosed because the affair cost less than $500. But a video surfaced by THE CITY last year instead shows a lavish affair at Shao’s mansion with lobster and fine wine, with few mall workers in sight.
Eric Adams is welcomed by fundraising event host Lian Wu Shao, owner of the New World Mall, at a 2021 campaign fundraiser. Credit: Screengrab via YouTube/Jerry Wang
Giving a May 2 deadline for all responses, Schaffer also demanded documentation about several other fundraising events with suspect contributions flagged by THE CITY in 2023, including several involving employees of businesses located in the New World Mall such as JMart and the Royal Queen banquet hall.
The CFB is meanwhile also zeroing in on another Adams fundraiser who has been a focus of THE CITY’s investigative reporting: Weihong Hu, who owns hotels where the city housed released inmates during the pandemic and is developing two new properties in Manhattan. Hu was recently indicted by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney in a wide-ranging kickback scheme related to the program.
One of the Hu-owned hotels that housed released inmates is located in Fresh Meadows, Queens, and hosted two Adams campaign fundraising events. Schaffer demanded all communications between Adams or his campaign and Hu regarding fundraising, including any involving employees or owners of the Fresh Meadows hotel, two events for the mayor’s 2021 campaign and one held in Hudson Yards building where Hu has an apartment for the mayor’s 2025 re-election bid.
Schaffer also requested records related to contributions bundled by the owners of SB HVAC Services Corporation. THE CITY reported last year that an employee of the company said he and his wife were reimbursed by his “boss” for contributions of $2,098 each they made to Adams’ 2025 re-election campaign.
The Answer Is Still No
In December, the board rejected Adams’ initial request for funds under the program, which provides $8 for every $1 a campaign raises from New York City residents up to the first $250.
The board cited the allegations spelled out in the Sept. 2024 indictment, which charged Adams with soliciting and accepting illegal straw donations linked to the Turkish government. The board also noted the campaign had refused to provide documentation CFB demanded about those allegedly illegal contributions.
Eric Adams campaigns for mayor at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn, May 11, 2021. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
The April 15 letter notes a number of factors that bolstered the CFB’s continued refusal to award Adams matching funds, including prosecutors’ assertion about a mayoral aide, Mohamed Bahi, who was charged with orchestrating a straw donor scheme for the mayor’s campaign and has stated he intends to plead guilty to unspecified charges.
The board also noted the guilty plea of Erden Arkan, a Turkish contractor who admitted to illegally reimbursing some of his employees for contributions they made to Adams’ campaign as straw donors.
And it cited the extraordinary Trump administration maneuvers that led to the dismissal of Adams’ criminal charges earlier this month, including Justice Department official Emil Bove’s admission he did not review the merits of the case when ordering prosecutors to drop it to help secure Adams’ aid in deporting immigrants.
The board also cited prosecutor Danielle Sassoon’s resignation letter in which she called the dismissal contrary to law and described it as a quid pro quo in which Adams’ agreed to assist the Trump deportation campaign in exchange for the criminal case going away.
And it noted Ho’s April 2 decision to dismiss the case. In his ruling, Ho made a point of criticizing the transaction, writing, “Everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”
As THE CITY first reported, last October the board warned the Adams’ campaign they could be in breach of certification for public funds, a position that could trigger the board to move to claw back the $10 million Adams has received running for mayor. The board repeated this warning in the April 15 letter, but did not take the step of formally declaring the campaign in breach.
Shortly after Ho dismissed the case, Adams’ claimed he was going to “fight” to get the CFB to reverse his denial of matching funds for his 2025 bid. Since then, however, his campaign has made no such effort. He dropped out of the June primary and is now running as an independent in the November general election.
On Wednesday Vito Pitta, Adams’ campaign lawyer, did not respond to THE CITY’s request for comment regarding the CFB’s communications.
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