The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charged Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the former chief adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), and her son with allegedly taking $100,000 in bribes from businessmen in exchange for taking official city action to help them.
Ingrid Lewis-Martin and her son, 38-year-old Glenn Martin II, allegedly received the money in written checks that were then cashed and used to buy a Porsche.
The men who offered the bribes were also charged in the four-count indictment for the scheme that prosecutors said lasted from January 2022 through June 2024.
“It was the purpose of this conspiracy for Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the Chief Advisor to Mayor Eric Adams, to use her authority and influence in that position for the benefit of Raizada Vaid aka Pinky, Mayank Dwivedi, and/or entities owned and/or controlled by them and/or others, known and unknown, in exchange for United States currency and other benefits, including benefits to her son,” the indictment said.
Prosecutors said that her son acted “as an intermediary between” her and the businessmen “to communicate with, schedule and arrange meetings with, and receive payment and other benefits” from the businessmen.
The businessmen were seeking help with getting construction projects approved by the city’s Building Department, The New York Times reported.
A lawyer for Lewis-Martin said that the charges against her “will make no sense to any New York jury.”
“To think that a high-ranking city official would take a bribe in the form of a check deposited into a bank account defies common sense,” the lawyer said. “We look forward to the citizens of the City of New York, who Ingrid has served so admirably for decades, clearing her name after a trial.”
Investigators used wiretaps to record conversations between the defendants that were then quoted and included in the indictment. Defendants also communicated with each other through text messages and on encrypted apps.
Adams’ inner circle has been engulfed in controversy for month as several officials, including Adams, have been hit with criminal charges for other alleged corrupt schemes.
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