On August 21 (Thursday), the Manhattan District Attorney’s office released a detailed indictment accusing former aide and longtime friend of current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, of abusing power for personal gain and accepting $75,000 in bribes. One of the cases involved a Queens karaoke club owner, Chinese businessman Tian Ji Li, who allegedly bribed her with $50,000.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s indictment, Adams’ former senior aide used her position in City Hall to accept a large amount of bribes – selling privileges she obtained as a public servant four times to those seeking favors.
The accusations come at a time when another long-time aide of Adams, Winnie Greco, who accompanied him on seven visits to China, was caught on camera handing over a potato chip bag filled with cash to a journalist, adding to the legal shadow looming over the mayor’s reelection campaign.
Lewis-Martin, Adams’ former senior advisor, was indicted by a grand jury for helping friends secure lucrative city contracts, expediting their regulatory approvals with the city government, or opposing projects disliked by allies in exchange for cash payments to her son, free home renovations, luxury seafood supply, or arranging TV appearances.
In one case, Lewis-Martin was accused of transferring a city contract to a friend who owns a karaoke club, Tian Ji Li, worth over $12 million, where Li received a 10% cut; the contract was for providing housing to asylum seekers. Prosecutors allege that, in return, Li paid $50,000 to Lewis-Martin’s son, Glenn Martin II, to purchase a luxury car and hosted a karaoke party for Lewis-Martin.
The indictment revealed that Lewis-Martin once texted Adams’ long-time ally and Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), Jesse Hamilton, saying, “Whatever territory Li Tian Ji wants, I need to sort it out for him, as he is one of us.”
The indictment detailed several text message exchanges between the individuals involved.
Prosecutors wrote in the indictment that Lewis-Martin, leveraging her influence as Adams’ longest-serving aide, “surpassed the professional knowledge and decision-making of other city government officials to ensure certain necessary actions were taken, benefiting her accomplices.”
In another case, Lewis-Martin and Hamilton were jointly accused of intervening in a project by real estate developer Yehiel Landau promoted by the New York City Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the DCAS to renovate properties owned by the two city officials valued over $5,000.
In the third case, Lewis-Martin was charged with opposing the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) street improvement project to help friends against the plan, for which they paid her $2,500 as compensation, providing free catering services to the city government and assisting Lewis-Martin in obtaining a speaking role on a TV show.
In another incident, Lewis-Martin was involved in smaller bribery schemes, expediting approval for a person needing Department of Buildings (DOB) authorization to renovate a property, and swiftly securing the approval. In return, she received seafood catering services valued at nearly $10,000 during events at Gracie Mansion and City Hall.
DCAS Commissioner Louis Molina stated in a media release that Hamilton had resigned on Thursday.
Yesterday morning, Lewis-Martin stood trial in a Manhattan criminal court, where she pleaded not guilty to four counts of conspiracy and four counts of bribery; the other defendants also pleaded not guilty.
Lewis-Martin resigned from City Hall employment in December last year and was subsequently charged with multiple corruption allegations, to which she pleaded not guilty. Despite this, she voluntarily served in Adams’ reelection campaign and acted as a political consultant.
Adams defended Lewis-Martin in a statement, stating that he would not let the indictment distract his focus.
“I have not been charged with any wrongdoing, and my focus remains on serving the 8.5 million New Yorkers, making our city safer and more affordable every day,” Adams said. “Although Ingrid Lewis-Martin no longer works for this administration, she is my friend and colleague of over 40 years, and I know her to be a dedicated public servant; she has declared her innocence, and I pray for her and her family.”
While Adams himself has not been accused of wrongdoing in the aforementioned cases, these latest corruption charges will undoubtedly impact his reelection campaign. Adams himself was once accused of conspiring with the Turkish government in bribery schemes. However, this accusation has been dismissed by the Department of Justice.