New York City Mayor Adams’ accused one of the suspects in a corruption case, Turkish real estate developer Erden Arkan, pleaded guilty on January 10th, admitting to using straw donors to make illegal contributions to Adams’ campaign.
Arkan admitted to a conspiracy charge in Manhattan federal court that day, telling presiding judge Dale E. Ho that in 2021, he deliberately violated the law by using 10 employees as straw donors, issuing each of them a check for $1,250, and instructing them to donate the money to Adams’ campaign. He stated that when he wrote the checks, he knew Adams’ campaign would use these small straw donations to apply for public matching funds from the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
At 76 years old, Arkan is the owner of the KSK Construction Group in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was accused of making straw donations to Adams at the direction of Turkish Consul General in New York, Reyhan Özgür. Arkan was indicted by federal prosecutors on charges of conspiracy and wire fraud. Last month, he reached a plea deal with Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Kim, admitted to conspiracy, and cooperated with the prosecution’s investigation into Adams’ alleged corruption in exchange for a lighter sentence. He is set to be sentenced on August 15, facing a possible sentence ranging from zero to six months in prison, and a maximum fine of $9,000.
Adams was charged by federal prosecutors with bribery and other offenses last September but has refused to plead guilty, vowing to continue in office. The full trial is scheduled to begin on April 21. Arkan became the first defendant in this case to publicly confess, which is expected to place the prosecution in a favorable position during the trial. However, Adams’ defense attorney Alex Spiro stated that Arkan’s guilty plea “has no impact on the case.”