Feds probing Eric Adams and top adviser’s trips to China
Feds probing Eric Adams and a key aide whose home they have raided are looking for private emails and records of trips they made to China, The Post has learned.
Both the FBI and federal prosecutors have flagged at least one trip taken by Adams which was partly funded by the Chinese Communist Party.
Adams made seven trips to China between 2014 and 2021 when he was Brooklyn Borough President, organized by key adviser Winnie Greco who ran the non-profit Sino-America New York Brooklyn Archway Association Corp. and was then a volunteer at Adam’s office.
The discoveries were made as part of a widening investigation into alleged public corruption involving Greco and the New York City mayor, a source close to the probe told The Post.
The mayor’s office provided email correspondence from the 2014 trip with the Conflicts of Interest Board, the independent agency that enforces ethics for the city, which stated they “saw no apparent violation of the conflict of interest law” from the trip.
However, the administration of current Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said it couldn’t locate or access data relevant to the China trips, according to a December document seen by The Post.
In the document, the general counsel for Reynoso’s office raised concern the information would be relevant to the FBI’s investigation, but it has no way to trace it.
“Because the prior administration … might have kept records such as those outside this office’s infrastructure … it is possible that this office does not maintain the records,” said the nine-page letter from Gregory Louis.
“I note that this office would lack access to the prior administration’s records maintained on private servers.”
It is unclear what specific evidence the federal government is seeking to find about Adams’ China trips or how it would fit into a wider investigation, or what they believe was discussed in their private emails.
Adams’ mayoral office provided The Post with an outline produced after the 2014 trip showing visits to schools and museums as well as numerous meetings with local officials in Beijing, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Yiwu and Shanghai.
A breakdown of costs shows $787 paid by the Communist Chinese government and almost $7,000 paid by Sino-America.
After the trip, Adams wrote: “We have had great government meetings,” in an email seen by The Post.
No correspondence from Adams or Greco was included.
Adams used three personal emails, including voiceofconcern@aol.com, which did not store their data on New York City government servers while he was Brooklyn Borough President, according to sources.
Greco and their aides also used non-official emails during that seven year time period, the source said. Adams was sworn in as mayor of New York City on Jan. 1, 2022.
The Mayor’s office noted he is allowed to use private email addresses for non-governmental matters.
In addition to Adams and Greco, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, deputy Brooklyn borough president and now senior policy adviser to the mayor, also used a private Gmail and AOL account, emails seen by The Post show.
Greco, 61, now head of Asian affairs for the city, is a longtime “consultant” to Chinese Communist Party-backed organizations, The Post first revealed last year.
Adams has participated in numerous Chinese community events in the city, including gala dinners and parades.
Neither Greco nor other members of the nonprofit explained where the money for the trips came from when asked by reporters at the time.
In February, FBI agents raided homes in the Bronx owned by Greco. She has also come under scrutiny by the city’s Department of Investigation over allegations she improperly used her City Hall position to obtain perks, including renovations to her properties. The DOI probe is ongoing, a spokeswoman for the agency told The Post Friday.
Last year, FBI agents seized Adams’ electronic devices as part of a probe into his campaign fundraising, The Post revealed. At that time, the feds also raided the homes of a City Hall staffer and chief fundraiser Brianna Suggs.
A search warrant showed that investigators were seeking documents related to a small Turkish university, based in Washington, DC, and evidence that a Brooklyn-based construction company — KSK Construction Group — as well as Turkish government officials illegally donated to the mayor’s 2021 campaign.
The FBI is also looking into business class upgrades Adams received on Turkish Airlines as part of the federal probe into his 2021 campaign finances, law enforcement sources confirmed Friday.
The feds are eyeing Adams’ flights, both during his time as Brooklyn borough president and since taking office as mayor in January 2022, according to the sources.
Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio used private emails at the beginning of his administration until he was forced by court order to make them public in 2018.
