FBI Raids Homes of Another Aide to Mayor Eric Adams and Ex-Turkish Airlines Official in Connection with Corruption Probe Linked to 2021 Campaign
FBI agents conducted coordinated raids on the residences of a New York City Hall staffer, a former Turkish Airlines executive, on the same day the FBI conducted a raid on the Brooklyn residence of Brianna Suggs, the chief fundraiser for New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The searches, which began early on November 2, targeted Brianna Suggs, Mayor Adams’s chief fundraiser; Rana Abbasova, an aide in his international affairs office; and Cenk Öcal, a former Turkish Airlines executive who was on Adams’s transition team.
The search warrant revealed an investigation into potential straw donor schemes involving foreign campaign donations. Crimes being probed include “theft of federal funds and conspiracy to steal federal funds, wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, as well as campaign contributions by foreign nationals and conspiracy to make such contributions.”
The involvement of a Brooklyn-based construction firm with known links to Turkey and an obscure university in Washington, D.C, also associated with the country and Mayor Adams, has also been probed by investigating authorities.
On Thursday, it was revealed that the FBI also initiated their searches in the early hours of November 2 at a townhouse in Fort Lee, New Jersey, belonging to Rana Abbasova, who holds the post of director of protocol with the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, New York Times reported.
Similarly, the home of Cenk Öcal was also a target. Öcal, who once served as a top manager for Turkish Airlines in New York, was dismissed from his role in early 2022 amid a broader company restructure.
Details on what was seized from the homes have not been disclosed, while neither Abbasova nor Öcal have issued comments regarding the searches or accusations. Mayor Adams’s campaign has stressed that Abbasova had no employment or payment connections with the campaign.
Last week, the FBI also seized NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ cellphones and iPad amid a federal corruption investigation related to his 2021 campaign.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/11/fbi-raids-homes-another-aide-mayor-eric-adams/