中文版阅读：FBI查亚当斯筹款要员，曾涉怡东商场项目
Another connection between Mayor Eric Adams and the East Broadway Mall was revealed when the home of Brianna Suggs, his top campaign fundraiser and former lobbyist for the mall’s previous operation, was raided by the FBI as part of a corruption investigation.
Also Read: Mayor Eric Adams Has “No Idea” Why His Son Was at an Event With Chinatown Developers
Last week, Documented first revealed the direct connections between the new lessor of the mall, Broadway East Group, a mysterious LLC that has largely kept its funding sources undisclosed, and several influential city government officials, including Adams and Winnie Greco, who serves as the Special Advisor to the Mayor and Director of Asian Affairs. Suggs’ only client listed in New York State lobbying disclosure data is East Broadway Mall Inc., the previous operator of the East Broadway Mall, a shopping center in Chinatown.
Suggs managed to raise $18.4 million for Adams’s 2021 mayoral campaign and over $2.7 million for his 2025 reelection campaign.
The city approved the transfer from the previous leaseholder, Terry Chan, to the BEG shortly after Wade Li, the president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of New York, an organization affiliated with the mall’s redevelopment, hosted a fundraiser for Adams at his restaurant, Hakka Cuisine, in Manhattan’s Chinatown back in June.
In March, Wade Li also appeared at an event organized by the Lee On Dong Association in San Francisco alongside Greco, Adams’ son Jordan Coleman and BEG’s other shareholders, creating further questions about the Mayor’s connection to the project.
Thursday’s FBI raid triggered a political shockwave, causing Adams to abruptly cancel his meetings with White House officials and congressional lawmakers and return to the city.
Ethical concerns have been raised regarding Suggs’ fundraising practices before. In 2022, Suggs lobbied the city on behalf of Terry Chan, the former operator of East Broadway Mall, a city-owned property in Chinatown, to assist with the lease renewal process with the city. Meanwhile, she was actively engaged in fundraising for the mayor. The City Clerk’s Office at the time said “there is no law against lobbyists engaging in fundraising and political consulting activities,” according to The New York Daily News.
The New York Times first reported that the Thursday raid was connected to a federal probe into whether Mayor Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign conspired with a Brooklyn construction firm, KSK Construction Group, and the Turkish government in an attempt to channel foreign funds into the campaign via a straw donor scheme. But when THE CITY contacted several employees of KSK yesterday, the employees said they either didn’t donate to the campaign or didn’t recall donating.
Also Read: New Questions Arise Over Adams Donors: One Says She Was Reimbursed, Others Say They Never Gave
While at a Día de Muertos celebration at Gracie Mansion on Thursday night, Adams said he had not been contacted by any law enforcement officials. “I hold my campaign to the highest ethical standards,” he said.
As of the article’s publication, Suggs could not be reached for comment through phone. Spokespeople for Suggs did not respond to requests for comment. Chan and his lawyer did not respond to numerous phone calls and texts on this matter.
