UNITED STATES NEWS

Brooklyn real estate magnate pleads guilty to conspiring to funnel illegal donations to NYC mayor

Jan 10, 2025, 11:42 AM | Updated: 12:40 pm

NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn real estate magnate pleaded guilty Friday to working with a Turkish government official to funnel illegal campaign contributions to New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Erden Arkan, 76, entered the plea to a conspiracy charge in Manhattan federal court, telling a judge that he knowingly violated the law by reimbursing employees of his construction firm for their donations to the Democrat’s campaign.

“When I wrote the checks, I knew the Eric Adams campaign would use the checks to apply for public matching funds,” he said.

Arkan is one of several individuals implicated in a sprawling bribery and illegal campaign finance indictment brought against Adams in September. He is the first to plead guilty during a public proceeding.

At Friday’s hearing, prosecutors told Judge Dale E. Ho that they had a raft of evidence, including recordings and email, proving that Arkan conspired with a Turkish consular official to deliver the illegal straw donations.

They allege that Adams personally solicited the donations from Arkan and the Turkish official at a April 2021 dinner. The following month, Arkan held a fundraiser at the headquarters of his construction company, KSK, in which 10 employees donated between $1,200 and $1,500 to the campaign. They were later reimbursed by Arkan, making them illegal straw donations.

Adams then used those funds to fraudulently obtain public money under the city’s matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small-dollar donations, prosecutors allege.

Arkan and his attorney, Jonathan Rosen, declined to comment as they exited the courtroom Friday.

An attorney for Adams, Alex Spiro, has said the guilty plea would have “no bearing on the mayor’s case whatsoever.”

A well-known member of New York’s Turkish community, Arkan’s ties to Adams first emerged in November 2023 after federal investigators searched the businessman’s home, along with the home of Adams’ chief fundraiser and his liaison to the Turkish community.

Adams was subsequently charged with accepting bribes in the form of luxury travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals hoping to buy his influence for their benefit. He has pleaded not guilty and vowed to remain in office as he fights the charge “with every ounce of my strength and my spirit.”

Adams is set to stand trial April 21st. Arkan will be sentenced in August.

United States News

Associated Press

Crews rush to recover commuter plane found crashed on Alaska sea ice before expected snow and wind

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Just hours after finding 10 people dead in western Alaska from one of the deadliest plane crashes in the state in 25 years, authorities raced to recover their remains and the wreckage of the small commuter plane from unstable sea ice before expected high winds and snow. “The conditions out there […]

7 hours ago

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Baltimore Field Officer director Matt Elliston listens dur...

Associated Press

Trump is signing up local law officers to help with immigration enforcement

For years, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in suburban Indianapolis has wanted to partner with federal immigration authorities to identify and detain immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and facing charges. President Joe Biden’s administration never returned its calls, the sheriff’s office said. But as President Donald Trump cracks down on illegal immigration, Hamilton […]

8 hours ago

Camden Lee, 16, poses for a portrait at his family's apartment, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in the Broo...

Associated Press

A 15-year-old went to a Brooklyn parade. The NYPD wrongly accused him of a mass shooting

NEW YORK (AP) — Camden Lee was leaving high school football practice in September when he saw the photograph, splashed across the New York Police Department’s social media accounts, that would soon upend his life. In a crisp surveillance image, the 15-year-old stands alone in a hoodie and shorts, eyes cast down on a Brooklyn […]

8 hours ago

Mellow, a transgender woman, poses for a portrait, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, outside of the Norfolk Cir...

Associated Press

Passport applications got more complicated for transgender Americans under new Trump policy

The day after President Donald Trump returned to office, Lisa Suhay took her 21-year-old daughter, Mellow, to a passport office in Norfolk, Virginia, where they live. Getting a passport for Mellow, who is transgender, was urgent. In an executive order Trump signed the night before, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead […]

8 hours ago

Leslie Knox stands outside her home Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Hamtramck, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul San...

Associated Press

Generations later, a remedy to destroying Black neighborhoods is fulfilled in Michigan

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — Leslie Knox was a young girl in the 1960s when her Detroit-area city was accused of destroying neighborhoods to get rid of Black residents. Decades later, the retired nurse has returned to Hamtramck, settling into a new two-story home on Gallagher Street and watching TV from a fold-up chair while she […]

8 hours ago

Patrick Mannion, owner of Osprey Whitewater, looks over the Nolichuky River, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024,...

Associated Press

A hidden gem of whitewater rafting faces an uncertain future after Hurricane Helene

ERWIN, Tenn. (AP) — After 24 years of guiding whitewater trips on the Nolichucky River Gorge for other companies, Patrick Mannion finally received a permit last year to operate his own outfitter business. But following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, he doesn’t know if Osprey Whitewater will be around for a second year. Flooding driven […]

8 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Bright Wealth Management

How to start your retirement planning early and avoid costly mistakes

Retirement planning can feel overwhelming, but with the right guidance, you can avoid costly pitfalls.

...

Fiesta Bowl Foundation

Join us for the 52nd annual Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade

The 52nd annual Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade presented by Lerner & Rowe returns on Saturday, December 28, at 10 a.m.

...

The UPS Store

How The UPS Store is giving back to the community

PHOENIX -- As 2024 nears a close, The UPS Store is looking to give back to the Arizona community with the holiday season approaching.

Brooklyn real estate magnate pleads guilty to conspiring to funnel illegal donations to NYC mayor