Thursday, one of six persons connected to Mayor Eric Adams’s 2021 campaign and a straw donor scheme pled guilty to conspiring to make unlawful campaign contributions.
Shamsuddin Riza, a prominent figure in Harlem political circles and owner of a construction company, has agreed to serve a three-year probationary period and refrain from planning any political fundraisers during that time.
Riza, a builder, informed another defendant that he wanted Adams to guarantee funding for a particular Brooklyn hospital project after the election, while the scheme’s final goal remained a mystery.
Just so you know! The lawsuit states that Riza expressed her need for “Safety, Drywall, and Security” in an email. We can all eat thanks to just one project! It will begin when he is at the office, so please show him before the event.
Several well-known local politicians have received donations from Riza and the other two accused.
Riza and the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg reached an agreement on Thursday. Bragg had earlier this summer filed charges against six individuals, claiming that they had used public matching money to funnel tens of thousands of dollars into the mayor’s campaign. One of them was Adams’s longtime friend and former NYPD coworker.
When asked about any straw donor schemes that may have occurred during his 2021 campaign, the mayor denied knowing about any. In this matter, neither Adams nor any of his employees have faced any accusations of misconduct. His campaign spokesperson was slow to react when asked to comment on the new guilty plea.
With his guilty plea, Riza becomes the fourth individual implicated in the plea bargain.
This occurs at the same time as Adams and his associates are dealing with a flood of ethical and legal issues. A fresh sexual harassment lawsuit has charged one of his senior advisors, and three of his associates have had their residences raided by federal agents this week alone.
United Construction Brothers Services, which Riza and his business partner Riza also ran, pled guilty to misrepresenting itself as a minority-owned firm in order to secure contracts.
Riza and the other five individuals were charged with plotting to refund campaign donations to the mayor for 2021 in the indictment that Bragg released in July. The scam allegedly utilized the city’s public financing program, which increased a part of each donation eightfold, and relied on individuals known as “straw donors” in election terminology.
Manhattan prosecutors listened in on Riza and the other defendants as they discussed campaign finance regulations and ways to circumvent restrictions on individual contributions by having other donors reimburse them for extra money.
Another co-defendant who entered a guilty plea to conspiracy charges in February is his married cousin Dwayne Montgomery.
Montgomery and Adams were both officers in the New York City Police Department. The mayor’s office has downplayed the connection in the past, saying that Montgomery was only one of several retired police officers who wanted to see Adams elected. The meeting between Montgomery and Phil Banks, the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, took place in February 2022, according to public records.
After entering guilty pleas, Millicent Redick and Ronald Peek will each return to court later this month.
A separate matter involved the March guilty plea of Chinese billionaire Hui Qin to federal charges related to his role in making anonymous contributions to Adams’ campaign. No charges have been filed against the mayor, and he has denied any misconduct in that instance.