NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) — The New York City mayor's former chief adviser, her son and two real estate investors were charged Thursday in a bribery conspiracy.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the indictment on Thursday of Ingrid Lewis-Martin, her son Glenn D. Martin II and real estate investors Raizada Vaid and Mayank Dwivedi in a conspiracy involving bribes of more than $100,000 while Lewis-Martin served as chief advisor to Mayor Eric Adams. Lewis-Martin and her son also are charged with money laundering.
Prosecutors said the developers repeatedly asked Lewis-Martin for help getting needed approvals for their projects, and she in turn pressed officials in the city buildings department to take action, and they did.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the indictment Thursday of Ingrid Lewis-Martin. by rabia.gursoy on Scribd
"From the moment Lewis-Martin became the second most senior person in City Hall, she abused her position and sold her influence to enrich herself and her family," prosecutors said in a court document.
Lewis-Martin allegedly used her influence to push Department of Buildings (DOB) officials to fast-track permits, according to prosecutors. In August 2023, Martin II allegedly deposited two $50,000 checks from the developers into joint accounts with his Lewis-Martin.
He later used the money to get a $113,000 cashier's check to purchase a Porsche. Lewis-Martin allegedly tried to cover this up by using encrypted messaging app Signal, instructing co-conspirators to use coded language like "trying to reach you" to alert her of messages, according to prosecutors.
Manhattan District Attorney
Vaid and Dwivedi were charged with bribery in the first degree, while Lewis-Martin and her son were charged with bribe receiving in the first degree and money laundering in the third degree. All defendants face multiple charges, including conspiracy, bribery, and money laundering.
"This alleged scheme traded public safety and integrity for personal gain," DA Bragg said. The investigation is ongoing.
Lewis-Martin, who resigned Sunday from her role as one of the most powerful officials in City Hall, has said she's being "falsely accused" and that she had "not made any arrangements in advance to take any gifts or money, or to have any gifts or money given to a family member or friend in order for me to do my job."
She surrendered Thursday morning at Bragg's lower Manhattan office.
Bragg and the commissioner of the city's watchdog Department of Investigation, Jocelyn Strauber, scheduled a news conference for Thursday afternoon.
Messages seeking comment were left Thursday with the district attorney's office and with Lewis-Martin's attorney, Arthur Aidala.
Aidala told reporters this week that Lewis-Martin was expected to face criminal charges related to alleged improper gifts.
The Adams administration has been roiled by criminal investigations. The mayor, a Democrat, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery in an unrelated federal case scheduled for trial next April.
Lewis-Martin, 63, has been one of the mayor's closest confidants, serving in senior roles as Adams ascended the ranks of government in New York over nearly two decades.
Prosecutors met her at an airport in New York in September as she was getting off a flight from Japan. The federal prosecutors served her with a subpoena while Manhattan prosecutors took her phones and searched her home.
Adams was charged in September with accepting luxury travel perks and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals looking to buy his influence. That investigation became public late last year after federal agents searched the home of the mayor's top fundraiser, Brianna Suggs. Lewis-Martin has referred to Suggs as her goddaughter.
Since then, the Adams administration has been enveloped by a series of searches and seizures from investigators, leading to the resignations of top officials, including his police commissioner, schools chancellor, multiple deputy mayors and his director of Asian affairs.
