The number of people under investigation in Mayor Eric Adams’ world continues to grow.

The latest: FBI agents raided two Bronx homes of a top aide to Adams, as well as the offices of a Queens mall that hosted Adams campaign operations in 2021.

The Bronx houses belong to Winnie Greco, Adams’ director of Asian affairs, who was involved in campaign fundraising efforts tied to the mall and the subject of an investigation by THE CITY about her fundraising and professional conduct.

Greco is the third Adams associate whose residences were be raided by federal agents. And those visits from the feds are a part of a number of ongoing probes circling the mayor’s administration and political campaigns.

While investigations of members of his inner circle proceed, the FBI is also in possession of whatever was on the mayor’s phones and iPad when agents seized them in November. Adams has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing and has repeatedly said that he instructs his team to “follow the law.”

If you’re having a hard time keeping up, we don’t blame you. Here are the highlights:

How many investigations of members of the Mayor Eric Adams administration are happening?

There are at least four money-related investigations connected to the Adams campaign or administration that you should know about. Some have led to indictments and guilty pleas.

  • Mystery donations from Flushing. The federal probe involving Greco follows an investigation by THE CITY that found multiple instances of people listed as donors to the mayor — all employees of businesses at the New World Mall in Flushing or an appliance center in Queens — who said they did not give or were reimbursed for their donations, which is illegal. Adams held eight fundraisers at the bustling mall, and Greco worked out of a campaign office on the premises for months in 2021. 
  • Dollars from Turkey? Federal investigators have been trying to determine if Adams’ 2021 campaign conspired with the Turkish government to accept illegal foreign donations. It’s part of a widening probe that includes a look at whether Adams cleared red tape with the FDNY for the Turkish consulate. (See below for more details on the specifics of the Turkey probe.)
  • Prosecution of a straw donation scheme. Early in February, a longtime ally of Adams, former NYPD inspector Dwayne Montgomery, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, admitting that he raised thousands of dollars in illegal straw donations for the mayor’s 2021 campaign. Montgomery joins two others who pleaded guilty last summer in the same case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
  • Alleged Buildings Department bribes. Former Adams buildings commissioner Eric Ulrich, accused of taking bribes, was indicted last year, also by Bragg’s office.

Wait, back up, what’s a straw donor?

Straw donors are people who are listed in campaign records as having donated to a candidate, but who did not actually contribute that money or were reimbursed for their donations by someone else.

Big-money donors caught in past straw-donation schemes used them in order to push more cash into a campaign than they are legally allowed to give — by getting other people to illegally make donations for them.

Who are the aides who have been raided by the FBI?

Three people from the Adams administration or campaign have had visits from federal agents as of late winter 2024: Greco, Adams chief campaign fundraiser Brianna Suggs and Rana Abbasova, an aide in Adams’ international affairs office.

The latest raids happened at Pelham Bay homes owned by Greco, first reported by News 12, on Feb. 29, and at the sprawling New World Mall in Flushing, Queens, first reported by THE CITY.

Greco is a longtime advisor to Adams dating back to his start as Brooklyn borough president and has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for his mayoral campaigns. She is now on sick leave from her job after having a medical episode during the FBI raid, according to an Adams administration source.

In early November, federal agents searched the homes of two Adams associates — Suggs, a 25-year-old campaign fundraiser, and Abbsaova, who has been placed on leave

Neither one of them, or Greco, has been accused or charged with a crime.

Why did the FBI search the mayor’s electronics?

We don’t know the specifics of what they were looking for, but the New York Times’ reporting on the seizure of his two phones and an iPad indicate that the FBI had a search warrant. They intercepted Adams in his SUV near Washington Square Park and took his devices, which the FBI later returned.

CNN later reported that Adams voluntarily turned over two other devices the day after the first seizure, according to a source close to the mayor.

What does all of this have to do with Turkey and Turkey’s president?

The FBI’s investigation centers around whether the Adams team coordinated with various Turkish-linked groups, companies and people to inject foreign money into the campaign using straw donors. While we don’t know specifically all of the links they are looking at, THE CITY has documented these instances of Adams campaign connections to Turkey:

  • KSK Construction, a Brooklyn firm owned by Turkish nationals: City regulators repeatedly asked the Adams mayoral campaign about donations from KSK employees that are now under scrutiny by the FBI. When contacted by THE CITY, multiple people listed in Adams 2021 campaign donation records as employees of KSK either said they did not donate to Eric Adams or refused to state whether they had ever donated. THE CITY also reported that KSK’s founder ran another company called Kiska Construction that was at the heart of two New York City government corruption scandals.
  • Bay Atlantic University, a small Turkish-owned institution based in Washington, D.C.: Before the FBI probe began looking into the transactions, the Adams campaign accepted and returned $10,000 in donations linked to the university.
  • The Turken Foundation, incorporated by a son of Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with board members who include Erdogan’s daughter: Campaign records show that between 2018 and 2021, the Adams campaign received $6,000 from three U.S. citizens who are board members of the charity. Adams’ interactions with the foundation go back to at least 2017, THE CITY found.

What’s so bad about getting money from another country? Is that illegal?

Yes, it is. Federal law bans foreign nationals and governments from donating to local, state or federal political campaigns.

Some of the donors THE CITY identified, such as those on the board of the Turken Foundation, are listed in filings to the Department of Justice as U.S. citizens — and it is legal to accept donations from registered foreign agents who are U.S. citizens.

But the citizenship status of other possible donors related to Turkey remains unclear. Moreover, a straw donation made through a U.S. citizen would still be a violation of campaign finance laws, whether or not it was reimbursed by a foreign entity.

Why would the Turkish government or Turkish officials want to influence the mayor of New York City, or a borough president?

That’s a mystery whose answers are still to be revealed. But broadly, we know that Adams has been a vocal supporter and friend to Turkey in the city for years — and reportedly is under scrutiny for helping Turkish officials with a major favor.

The New York Times reported that federal investigators are looking into whether Adams pressured the fire department to greenlight the opening of the newly constructed Turkish consulate weeks before he was elected mayor in 2021. At the opening, Turkish President Erdogan boasted that the skyscraper reflected Turkey’s “increased power.”

This all sounds familiar. Where have I seen this before?

Almost every modern mayor of the City of New York has been caught up in corruption investigations , but none have been charged with crimes. Here’s THE CITY’s guide on that mayoral history.

What might be the consequences for the mayor, legally or politically?

Legally, the consequences for the various investigations remain to be seen. Again: The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing or crime, and none of his campaign staff have been either. 

Politically, his fate is up in the air. Already, would-be challengers are sending up trial balloons for running against him in 2025. (Here’s our guide on those candidates.)

The governor has the power to remove the mayor if it comes to that point, but no governor has ever used that power. In 1932, then-Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt could have removed Mayor Jimmy Walker, but Walker resigned before he could.

Have a question about the ongoing investigations of the Adams campaign or administration? Send a message to ask@thecity.nyc, or send a news tip to our reporters at tips@thecity.nyc.