Former top aide to New York City’s mayor charged in a bribery conspiracy

(AP) — The New York City mayor’s former chief adviser, her son and two real estate investors were indicted on Thursday in a bribery conspiracy, charges that come as the mayor himself faces a separate corruption case and a series of criminal investigations roils City Hall.

Ingrid Lewis-Martin, her son Glenn D. Martin II and real estate investors Raizada Vaid and Mayank Dwivedi pleaded not guilty as prosecutors accused the four of engaging in blatant a pay-to-play scheme.

“This was an unfettered, on-call, quid pro quo arrangement,” in which Lewis-Martin and her son raked in over $100,000 in cash and other help in exchange for her speeding approvals for construction projects, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference.

He said the scheme went on during much of Lewis-Martin’s nearly three-year tenure as Mayor Eric Adams’ chief adviser — a post she left only last weekend.

“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,” Bragg’s office said in a court document.

Ahead of the indictment, Lewis-Martin denied any wrongdoing. Messages seeking comment were left Thursday for attorneys for her, her son and Dwivedi. Information on an attorney for Vaid wasn’t immediately available.

Prosecutors wrote that the developers repeatedly asked Lewis-Martin for help getting OKs for such projects as a rooftop bar and a hotel, and she in turn pressed officials in the city’s Department of Buildings to take action, which they did.

“Again and again, she delivered for them,” said Bragg.

In return, the developers paid $100,000 to Lewis-Martin’s son, who put the money in an account he shared with her, and used some of it to buy a $113,000 Porsche last year, prosecutors said in the court document. They said the son also got help from the businessmen with some of his own ventures.

Lewis-Martin tried to cover her tracks by communicating with Vaid through Signal, an encrypted messaging app, in December 2022, prosecutors wrote.

At one point in January 2023, he texted her, “I need this favor. This is still stuck at DOB. . . . Please get this through,” according to the court document.

“Please only use Signal for asks,” she responded, adding ““Next time just text me ‘trying to reach you(’) and I will Look for it.”

The same day, Lewis-Martin forwarded Vaid’s requests to the acting buildings commissioner, according to the court document. It said a buildings department employee met with Vaid the next day.

Bragg also is prosecuting a separate bribery conspiracy case against former buildings commissioner, Eric Ulrich, who has pleaded not guilty. But no buildings department employees or officials have been charged in the alleged scheme involving Lewis-Martin. Ulrich’s successor was the one who received her messages, and it’s unclear whether anyone at the agency had any inkling of the alleged pay-to-play behind the scenes.

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. She resigned Sunday. She 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. Lewis-Martin’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, had told reporters she expected to face criminal charges related to allegedly improper gifts.

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.

Bragg noted that the case against Lewis-Martin doesn’t allege that Adams did anything criminal. He said the mayor isn’t a target of state prosecutors’ investigation.

Federal prosecutors charged Adams 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.

The mayor, a Democrat like Bragg, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery. His federal trial is scheduled for next April.

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.