New York Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign team was accused of submitting false donation records to apply for public matching funds during his re-election campaign in May this year. Adams insisted on the 24th that he and his team abided by the rules, and a Chinese nursing agency accused of being involved in false donations said that it strictly abided by campaign financial regulations and would not comment on personal donations.
On the 24th, the online media “The City” published an investigative report saying that after a federal judge dropped the corruption case against Adams in April, Adams’ campaign team received 17 false donations in two batches of donations in May, all of which were used to apply for public matching funds. These 17 donations all reached the maximum donation amount of 2,100 yuan and were all paid by credit card. Ten of the 17 donations were related to the Empire Home Care Company (All Star Homecare Agency) in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and several of them were donated by employees of the company and their relatives.
Two of the so-called donors are a couple living in Sunset Park, but they said in an interview that they had never donated to Adams, they had no jobs, no money at all, and did not intend to use the money for political donations. The investigation found that the billing address on the credit card used by the two donors did not match the two people’s Sunset Park address. The donation was paid by their daughter living in Connecticut, which violated the regulations that donors must live in New York City and clarify the explanation if the residential address is inconsistent with the credit card “billing address”.
Another donor said that he was an employee of Empire Home Care. He also paid a donation of 2,100 yuan with a credit card, and the billing address of the credit card was the address of Empire Home Care in Sunset Park, and he also listed the company address as the home address in the donation form.
“The City” also reported that the company had dealt with the city government during Adams’ administration. In 2023, the company attempted to convert a former synagogue in Gravesend into a six-story residential building for use as a day center for the elderly. The City Planning Commission, composed of commissioners appointed by the mayor, approved the change of use application in 2023.
In a response, Waiman Liu, the manager of Empire Home Care, said that the company strictly complies with all applicable campaign finance rules and regulations and that they do not comment on individual donations or internal affairs. He also said that the company “does not coordinate, encourage or reimburse political donations in any way that violates legal requirements.”
When asked about reports of false donations on the 24th, Adams said, “We follow the rules.” He also added that these were only credit card donations, but did not elaborate further. His campaign spokesman Todd Shapiro issued a statement saying that thousands of donations will be received during the campaign, and there may be a small number that need to be clarified or reviewed.
