NEW YORK — A Brooklyn real estate magnate pleaded guilty Friday to working with a Turkish government official to funnel illegal campaign contributions to New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Erden Arkan, 76, entered the plea to a conspiracy charge in Manhattan federal court, telling a judge that he knowingly violated the law by reimbursing employees of his construction firm for their donations to the Democrat's campaign.
''When I wrote the checks, I knew the Eric Adams campaign would use the checks to apply for public matching funds,'' he said.
Arkan is one of several individuals implicated in a sprawling bribery and illegal campaign finance indictment brought against Adams in September. He is the first to plead guilty during a public proceeding.
At Friday's hearing, prosecutors told Judge Dale E. Ho that they had a raft of evidence, including recordings and email, proving that Arkan conspired with a Turkish consular official to deliver the illegal straw donations.
They allege that Adams personally solicited the donations from Arkan and the Turkish official at a April 2021 dinner. The following month, Arkan held a fundraiser at the headquarters of his construction company, KSK, in which 10 employees donated between $1,200 and $1,500 to the campaign. They were later reimbursed by Arkan, making them illegal straw donations.
Adams then used those funds to fraudulently obtain public money under the city's matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small-dollar donations, prosecutors allege.
Arkan and his attorney, Jonathan Rosen, declined to comment as they exited the courtroom Friday.
