What is NYC Mayor Eric Adams accused of? The charges explained

Eric Adams is facing five separate criminal counts, including “conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and to receive campaign contributions by foreign nationals”, wire fraud, two counts of solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national and bribery”.

According to the 57-page indictment, Adams allegedly accepted more than $100,000 in luxury travel – including hotel stays, lavish meals and airline upgrades – from Turkish nationals beginning in 2016, when he still served as president of the New York borough of Brooklyn.

In one instance, for example, Adams is alleged to have received a “heavily discounted” stay at the “Bentley Room” of Istanbul’s St Regis hotel, paying $600 for a two-day visit that was valued at approximately $7,000.

“This was a multi-year scheme to buy favour with a single New York City politician on the rise,” US Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference.

Additionally, Adams is alleged to have sought out campaign contributions from Turkish sources for his 2021 mayoral election campaign.

None of this was publicly declared, and prosecutors claim Adams used “straw donors” to hide the sources of the money, and at times created “fake paper trails” that suggested he paid, or intended to pay, for the gifts.