6 charged with steering illegal donations to Mayor Adams’ 2021 campaign, DA announces

Six people were indicted on Friday for allegedly using straw donors to illegally generate donations to Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 campaign under a generous taxpayer-funded matching funds program.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the defendants’ concocted a scheme in which they organized fundraisers and illegally recruited and used straw donors: individuals who were given money to contribute to Adams’ campaign in their own name so as to circumvent contribution limits and exploit the city’s matching funds system.

Adams has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Bragg accused the defendants — Dwayne Montgomery, Shamsuddin Riza, Millicent Redick, Ronald Peek, Yahya Mushtaq and Shahid Mushtaq — of trying to use their contributions as a way of gaining access and influence with City Hall.

Montgomery, who is said to have led the effort, is a retired NYPD inspector listed as a “director of integrity” for the Teamsters Local 237, a union representing city employees.

He was suspended Friday, according to Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesperson for the union, who added that the Teamsters had no knowledge of his alleged activity.

The scheme allegedly involved a Democratic party official, with one of the straw donors described in the indictment an unidentified “Manhattan Democratic Party District Leader.” There are over 70 such elected officials in the borough. Their duties include nominating judges and picking poll workers.

“We allege a deliberate scheme to game the system in a blatant attempt to gain power,” Bragg said in a press release. “The New York City Campaign Finance Board program is meant to support our democracy and amplify the voices of New York City voters. When the integrity of that program is corrupted, all New Yorkers suffer.”

The charges include conspiracy, grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing.

Several of the defendants have contracting businesses and were said to be eyeing contracts with the city.

According to the indictment, Montgomery told Riza in July 2021 over the phone that Adams “doesn't want to do anything” unless he received $25,000 in contributions. It is not clear from the quote what Montgomery was referring to with respect to Adams, but the indictment chronicles his attempts to organize fundraisers for the campaign.

That same month Riza allegedly emailed Montgomery an ad for an upcoming development project called Vital Brooklyn and wrote, “FYI ! This is the one I want.” In an apparent reference to Adams, he added, “Please show to him before Event it will start when he's in office.”

Vital Brooklyn is the name of a state-led affordable housing initiative.

Four of the defendants, Montgomery, Riza, Redick and Shahid Mushtaq, pleaded not guilty on Friday morning in state Supreme Court. A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA said the two remaining defendants will be arraigned at a later date.

Scott Grauman, an attorney for Shahid Mushtaq, said his client denies the allegations. Other representatives for the defendants could not be reached for comment.

The Adams campaign said it was working with the authorities.

“The campaign thanks the District Attorney’s office for their hard work on behalf of taxpayers,” spokesperson Evan Thies said. “There is no indication that the campaign or the mayor is involved in this case or under investigation. The campaign always held itself to the highest standards and we would never tolerate these actions.”

The Mushtaqs' company, Ecosafety Consultants, has a contract with the city with payments totaling more than $210,000, according to City Comptroller Brad Lander's office. The contract predates Adams’ tenure as mayor but has continued throughout his mayoralty.

New York City’s campaign finance program is considered a national model that is designed to encourage candidates to raise money through small donors rather than wealthy special interests. Under the program run by the city’s Campaign Finance Board, an individual contribution of $250 to the campaign could be matched with an additional $2,000 in public funds.

This is not the first time that a mayor’s campaign donations have come under scrutiny. During his first term, former Mayor Bill de Blasio was the subject of federal and state investigations for alleged involvement in illegal donations. The charges against de Blasio were eventually dropped, but two donors pleaded guilty to trying to buy access to the mayor.

As a mayoral candidate, Adams amassed a hefty war chest, raising more than $7 million from a mix of small and deep-pocketed donors. In May, the Campaign Finance Board fined Adams’ campaign nearly $20,000 mostly for failing to provide adequate documentation of its spending.

According to the indictment, the defendants, who used their employees as straw donors, were aware that they were breaking the law.

In a phone conversation in August 2021, the defendant Peek warns that they need to use “workers they trust, that’s not gonna talk.”

“Because remember a guy went to jail for that,” he added.

David Brand contributed reporting. This story has been updated with additional information.