A Brooklyn businessman identified only as “Businessman-5” in an indictment against New York City Mayor Eric Adams plans to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge in connection with the illegal collection of campaign contributions, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Erden Arkan, a wealthy construction magnate, has indicated that he wants to plead guilty, prosecutors said in a letter sent to the judge presiding over the case against Adams, along with the judge who would hear Arkan’s plea.
They say the plea would be to a conspiracy charge alleging he committed wire fraud through the collection of campaign contributions made under the name of someone other than the true contributor. Prosecutors said that a subsequent request for public funds was based on the misrepresentation that contributions came from the named contributors.
A lawyer for Arkan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A well-known member of New York’s Turkish community, Arkan is a co-owner of KSK, a Brooklyn-based construction firm specializing in luxury condominiums. His firm’s ties to Adams emerged in November 2023, as investigators searched his residence, along with the home of Adams’ chief fundraiser and his liaison to the Turkish community.
Adams, a Democrat, has pleaded not guilty to federal bribery charges alleging that he accepted luxury travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals hoping to buy his influence for their benefit.
Federal prosecutors say Adams personally solicited illegal campaign contributions from Arkan at an April 2021 dinner hosted by the official in the Turkish government. The following month, Arkan hosted a fundraiser for Adams in which 11 of his employees donated between $1,200 and $1,500 to the campaign. Each was reimbursed by the construction firm, prosecutors allege, making the contributions illegal straw donations.
Adams then “compounded his gain” through the city’s matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small-dollar donations, according to the indictment. Arkan later confirmed to the FBI that he had spoken to the Turkish official about the fundraiser.
That Turkish official would later seek repayment from Adams, prosecutors allege, by requesting he pressure the fire department to facilitate the opening of the consulate without a fire inspection in time for a visit by Turkey’s president.
Adams faces trial in April on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery. He has pleaded not guilty and vowed to remain in office as he fights the charges.
His administration has been enveloped by a series of investigations, searches and seizures, leading to the resignations of his police commissioner, schools chancellor, multiple deputy mayors and his director of Asian affairs.
