By Greg B. Smith, Katie Honan, Gwynne Hogan and Samantha Maldonado, thecity.nyc | Photo Courtesy: THECITY

Federal authorities have raided the homes of some of the highest-ranking members of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, including two deputy mayors and the schools chancellor, and seized the electronic devices of New York City’s police commissioner, sources familiar with the situation told THE CITY.

This extraordinary effort in the last two days to obtain evidence from some of the highest-ranking members of Adams’ team — all of whom have longtime and close ties to the mayor — follows other federal raids and seizures that have swept up the mayor and other top aides in what appears to be a broadening investigation of City Hall.

On Wednesday agents showed up around 5 a.m. at the Hamilton Heights townhouse of Sheena Wright, who also happens to be the fiancé of Chancellor Banks. The chancellor was seen by THE CITY entering and leaving the townhouse twice on Thursday. Asked about the raid, David Banks declined to comment, saying, “Today is the first day of school, and I am thrilled,” he said, jumping into a SUV to head to a scheduled appearance at a school in Queens. At the same time agents raided Wright’s townhouse, they simultaneously descended upon Deputy Mayor Philip Banks III’s brick and clapboard single family in Hollis, the sources said. A neighbor of Phil Banks’ home told THE CITY they woke up to a disturbance Wednesday morning and about 15 agents were on the street.

Then on Thursday the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office issued search warrants seizing the cell phones of Police Commissioner Edward Caban, a development first reported by Spectrum News NY1. Asked about this, the department’s press office responded, “The Department is aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York involving members of service. The Department is fully cooperating in the investigation.”

A spokesperson for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams declined to comment.

The New York Times reported that the FBI raided the home of a third Banks brother, Terrence, and seized electronic devices from Tim Pearson, one of another senior advisor to the mayor and one of Adams’ closest associates. In a lawsuit filed recently against Pearson alleging workplace retaliation, the plaintiff stated an FBI agent recently knocked on his door and asked about Pearson.

Adams spoke briefly with reporters as he left City Hall on Thursday afternoon.

“The goal is to follow the law and that is what this administration always stood for and what we’re going to continue to stand for,” he said.

When asked if he thought his staff followed the law, given multiple investigations, Adams said: “I think I answered the question, and that I’m going to continue to say as I’ve lived my entire life and I have confidence in the team, the team here. We’re going to follow the rules and comply with any questions that are asked of us.”

Prior Probes
The purpose of the raids and seizures of devices is not yet clear, but one source said the cell phones and laptop of Wright and Phil Banks were taken. Another City Hall source said that inquiry appears to be unrelated to existing federal probes into Adams’ 2021 campaign fundraising. Early Thursday an FBI spokesperson declined to comment but did not deny that the bureau showed up at Wright’s and Phil Banks’ home addresses.

A half hour after THE CITY revealed the raids, City Hall Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg issued a statement: “Investigators have not indicated to us [that] the mayor or his staff are targets of any investigation. As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has repeatedly made clear that all members of the team need to follow the law.”

Last November, the FBI seized Adams’ cell phones and laptop and raided the home of his campaign treasurer, Briana Suggs, in a probe by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney into whether the campaign conspired to obtain illegal foreign donations from entities tied to the Turkish government.

The same day, agents raided the home of Rana Abbasova, the director of protocol for the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, who reportedly has knowledge of Adams’s interactions with Turkey. Abbasova is reportedly now cooperating with federal investigators. Records document fundraisers bundled by entities with ties to Turkey — Bay Atlantic University, which raised $10,000 via five donations of $2,000 each, and KSK Construction Group, which raised $12,700 from multiple donors. Both were referenced in a search warrant seeking campaign records from Suggs, according to the New York Times. And in February the FBI raided two Bronx homes owned by a top Adams aide, Winnie Greco, and the New World Mall in Flushing, Queens, as part of a probe by the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney. Greco had hosted multiple fundraisers for Adams and holds a position in the mayor’s office as an advisor. The Campaign Finance Board in a recently released draft audit of Adams’ 2021 campaign labeled the entity tied to the mall, J Mart Group, as a suspected intermediary that raised nearly $12,700 for the mayor’s campaign.

Wright was a former top executive of the United Way when Adams made her one of his first appointments in January 2022. Phil Banks is a former cop and close ally of the mayor, appointed by Adams despite his being named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an NYPD bribery scandal.

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