Ingrid Lewis-Martin indictment says top NYC Mayor Eric Adams' advisor traded City Hall influence for cash

Josephine Stratman and Molly Crane-Newman and Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News on Dec 19, 2024

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NEW YORK — Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Mayor Eric Adams’ recently resigned chief advisor, her adult son and two real estate investors were indicted on bribery and money laundering charges by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office Thursday.

Lewis-Martin and her son, Glenn Martin II, are accused of trading influence for $100,000 in cash and checks from the real estate investors, Mayank Dwivedi and Raizada Vaid.

“From the moment Lewis-Martin became the second most senior person in City Hall, she abused her position and sold her influence to enrich herself and her family,” Bragg wrote in court papers.

Both businessmen had construction permits pending with the city’s Department of Buildings and repeatedly contacted both Lewis-Martin and her son to speed up their applications and help reverse applications that had been rejected, according to the prosecutors.

Lewis-Martin allegedly contacted Kazimir Vilenchik, then acting commissioner of DOB, for help with their applications.

In August 2023, Martin II received two payments of $50,000 —a cashier’s check from Dwivedi’s company and a personal check from Vaid. The son deposited the $100,000 into joint bank accounts held with his mother and then transferring $50,000 to his DJ business, according to the indictment. He then used that money to ultimately buy a Porsche.

All four have been charged with conspiracy, with each of the real estate investors hit with bribery charges, and Lewis-Martin and her son are charged with bribe receiving and money laundering, according to the indictment, which was unsealed just before 1 p.m. on Thursday.

Lewis-Martin and her son, Glenn Martin II, arrived at Bragg’s office in downtown Manhattan around 7:30 a.m. to turn themselves in.

Lewis-Martin smiled and exchanged some quick words with officers assigned to the DA’s office while her son stayed quiet before they both walked inside. They are expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.

Lewis-Martin is a longtime friend of Adams and one of his closest confidantes, having worked for him going back to his days as a state senator representing Brooklyn.

She abruptly resigned from her powerful post as City Hall’s chief adviser Sunday — just hours before news broke that she would soon be facing charges. Her son, a professional DJ who goes by “Suave Luciano,” is also close with Adams and refers to the mayor as his “uncle.”

Lewis-Martin’s departure was the latest in a string of high-profile resignations from City Hall as Adams remains under federal indictment on charges alleging he solicited bribes and illegal campaign cash, mostly from Turkish government operatives, in exchange for political favors.

Previously, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Schools Chancellor David Banks, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, senior public safety adviser Tim Pearson and Asian affairs director Winnie Greco all resigned after being ensnared in several separate federal corruption probes.

Adams has pleaded not guilty, while Lewis-Martin told reporters Monday — before the specifics of the charges against her were known — that she would be “falsely accused of something.” Besides the mayor, she’s the most high-profile Adams administration official to face criminal charges.

“The DA has an incomplete and inaccurate view of the facts. We look forward to setting the record straight and proving Mr Dwivedi’s complete innocence,” Teny Geragos, a lawyer for Mayank Dwivedi, one of the businessmen expected to be charged, said, prior to the indictment being unsealed.

Investigators with the DA’s office seized Lewis-Martin’s phone and searched her Brooklyn home right after she returned to JFK Airport from a trip to Japan in September. Federal agents also served her with a subpoena at the airport requiring her to provide grand jury testimony and documents in the probe that resulted in the mayor’s indictment.

The DA’s office has declined to comment on details of its investigation into Lewis-Martin. Bragg is expected to hold a press conference to discuss the charges against Lewis-Martin, her son and the two businessmen before her afternoon arraignment.

Also in September, DA investigators seized devices from several individuals who accompanied Lewis-Martin on her Japan trip, including Jesse Hamilton, a former state senator who now manages the Adams administration’s vast real estate portfolio, and Diana Boutross, a top broker at the Cushman & Wakefield real estate firm.

The Boutross and Hamilton seizures are believed to be part of an investigation looking into possible corruption in the city government’s commercial real leasing sector. No one has been publicly accused of wrongdoing in connection with that inquiry to date.