The city Department of Education got served with a subpoena as part of a federal probe into outgoing Schools Chancellor David Banks and his brother, The Post has learned.
The legal request issued in recent days — and first reported by Politico — sought documents related to Banks and his brother Terence Banks, a consultant who represented companies that scored lucrative contracts with the city, a source told The Post.
The search focused on documents from the department’s operations and finance office run by deputy Chancellor Emma Vadehra, the source said.
A DOE spokesman denied Vadehra personally got hit with a subpoena, but didn’t deny one had been served.
“New York City Public Schools does not comment on ongoing investigations,” the rep said in a statement Friday.
The probe is one of many roiling Mayor Eric Adams’ troubled administration, which has undergone near daily raids, subpoenas, resignations and unparalleled turmoil, including the indictment of Hizzoner himself, over the past month.
Details about when exactly the subpoena was served to the DOE remained unclear, but word about it came on the heels of a federal raid on the NYPD’s School Safety Division headquarters Thursday – a search that also appeared to seek information on Terence Banks’ dealings.
Sources told The Post the feds sought papers and records tied to a deal with SaferWatch, a tech company that was one of Banks’ clients.
Another former city official – senior adviser Tim Pearson, a longtime friend of Adams – had urged the then-head of school safety agents to have his officers install SaferWatch’s “panic button” app on their phones, sources said.
SaferWatch had also landed high-level meetings with David Banks, according to sources.
The company received nearly $68,000 in city funds over four pilot deals that began in August 2023, records show.
David Banks, along with Terence Banks and Pearson, had their electronic devices seized by feds during a spate of raids in early September.
The schools chancellor and Pearson are among at least 10 top city officials who have resigned, been fired or otherwise forced from Adams’ administration in the past month.
The brouhaha over SaferWatch after the school safety agent headquarters raids prompted Phil Banks – the city’s recently resigned deputy mayor for public safety and third Banks brother to face federal scrutiny – to leap to Terence Banks’ defense.
He wrote on X that SaferWatch had a contract with the school safety division before they knew his brother.
“After they entered into a client arrangement with Terence they received NO additional contract from school safety,” he wrote. “Don’t believe me FOIL it.”
Phil Banks, however, left out that SaferWatch did score four smaller deals since 2023 that did not go out for a bid because they fell under $100,000, according to The Post’s review of city contract records.
The Post could find no record that showed SaferWatch had any dealings with the city before August 2023.
