More names are likely to surface from an investigation that resulted in a historic five-count federal indictment against New York City Mayor Eric Adams this week — one alleging that he took bribes and illegal campaign contributions, says an expert on white collar crime. “This is big. It’s big not just for New York, but the political system in general,” says Nikos Passas, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Northeastern University. “It shows that there’s no one-party monopoly on this kind of misconduct.”
In what caps months of scrutiny into Adams’ inner circle — and years of suspicion — Adams was indicted this week on charges of bribery conspiracy, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations stemming from a “straw donor” scheme whereby he allegedly used a city program that matches small-dollar contributions with public funds in connection with illicit money from overseas.
