The New Yorkers ensnared in Mayor Eric Adams’ pay-for-play scheme include everyone from his own domestic partner to City Hall staffers — including one set to be a star witness against him.
Manhattan federal prosecutors charged the mayor this week with being part of a corrupt quid pro quo bribery conspiracy, claiming he doled out favors to foreign entities in exchange for illegally funneled funds into his 2021 campaign.
While Adams was the only one indicted Tuesday, the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office laid out how others close to him were allegedly caught up in his nearly decade-long corruption.
The Post has now been able to identify the majority of the local hidden characters referred to in the 57-page bombshell court document.
Some of the people discussed in the indictment were staffers during Adams’ tenure as Brooklyn borough president and then later when he became mayor. They arranged flights, worked to accept straw donations and pitched in to help rush the opening of a glossy Turkish tower, federal prosecutors alleged in painstaking allegations.
Others — loved ones and close confidantes of Adams — were the benefactors of his alleged corruption by traveling in luxury and staying at ritzy hotels, according to the feds.
Adams was hit with five federal charges after he was accused of taking bribes from foreign nationals in return for favors. The 64-year-old pol is also accused of collecting a jaw-dropping $10 million in public campaign funds.
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He has denied any wrongdoing and vowed not to resign.
Rana Abbasova
An unnamed Turkish entrepreneur inquired about stuffing Adams’ campaign coffers with foreign donations in June 2018, prompting Rana Abbasova, dubbed “Adams Staffer” in the document, initially told him that Adams “wouldn’t get involved in such games.
“They might cause a stink later on,” she allegedly said. But she added that she would ask Adams “anyways,” according to the court docs.
Abbasova, a former aide and liaison to the Turkish community, then allegedly asked Adams about the proposal, and “contrary to expectations,” Adams “pursued the promoter’s illegal scheme,” the documents claim.
Then in August 2021, Abbasova and the head of the Turkish University’s American campus exchanged messages that involved a plan where an unnamed Turkish businessman would flow money into Adams’ campaign through the university’s US-based workers, according to the indictment.
In a stern warning to the university at the time, Abbasova said the donation would need to exceed $25,000 or Adams would not participate in an in-person event — a vow that was followed through on when the school only coughed up $10,000, the indictment states.
Sources told The Post that Abbasova is cooperating with the feds and serving as a key witness.
Tracey Collins
Adams’ underlings allegedly helped him book free or greatly discounted luxury flights with Turkish Airlines that were mostly for him and who feds referred to as his “domestic partner,” Tracey Collins. The trips go back to 2015.
In one case, in June 2021, an airline manager told Abbasova that Adams would be charged $50.
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This was immediately dismissed by Abbasova who said it had to be more money so it appears to be “somewhat real,” according to the indictment.
“We don’t want them to say he is flying for free,” Abbasova allegedly wrote. At the moment, the media’s attention is on Eric.”
Adams ultimately paid $1,100 for roundtrip tickets for him and Collins that would have cost more than $15,000 in the open market, according to prosecutors.
Abbasova also allegedly arranged where Adams and his partner would stay. In one instance, an unnamed manager offered the Four Seasons, to which the staffer replied, “It’s too expensive.”
“Why does he care? He is not going to pay,” the manager said. “His name will not be on anything either.”
| Year | Destination | Benefits | Value | Disclosed? |
| 2016 | India (via Turkey) | Free upgrade to business class for two on round-trip flight from New York to India | $12,000 | No |
| 2017 | France, Turkey, and China | Free business class tickets for three on round trip from New York to France, Turkey, and China; heavily discounted stay in Bentley Suite of St. Regis Istanbul | $41,000+ | No |
| 2017 | China (via Turkey) | Free business class tickets for two on round trip from New York to China | $16,000+ | No |
| 2018 | Hungary (via Turkey) | Free upgrade to business class for two on round trip from New York to Hungary | $12,000+ | No |
| 2019 | Turkey | Free upgrade to business class for one on flight from New York to Turkey; free stay at Cosmopolitan Suite of St. Regis Istanbul; free meals, transportation, and entertainment in Istanbul | $9,000+ | No |
| 2021 | Turkey (solicited and accepted but then canceled) | Free upgrade to business class for two on round trip from New York to Turkey; free or steeply discounted luxury hotel and resort stays, transportation, entertainment, and meals | $21,000+ | No |
| 2021 | Ghana (via Turkey) | Free upgrade to business class for two on round trip from New York to Ghana; free meal and transportation during Istanbul layover | $12,000+ | No |
The staffer then said, “Super.” Adams later canceled that trip.
Jordan Coleman and Winnie Greco
Other mayoral staffers enjoyed in the extravagant travel, too, the feds said.
The mayor’s director of Asian affairs, Winnie Greco, traveled to France, Turkey, Sri Lanka and China in July and August of 2017 with Adams’ son Jordan Coleman, referred to as “a close relative of Adams,” the indictment states.
Adams allegedly accepted “free business class tickets” from Turkish Airlines worth a total of more than $35,000 for himself and others.
A couple of months later, Adams and Greco then traveled to Nepal through Istanbul and Beijing for free — a trip that would otherwise cost $16,000, the indictment reads. Greco is described as the “liaison to Asian-American communities.”
Brianna Suggs
In June 2021, Adams is said to have messaged Turkish officials about covering the expenses for his campaign fundraiser Brianna Suggs when she traveled to Istanbul. Suggs was referenced to in the indictment at first as “scheduler,” during Adams’ time at Borough Hall, then as “lead fundraiser for the 2021 campaign.”
The official wrote back, “Eric no prob, it was set through the Turkish Hospitality Services. I hope she enjoyed her stay,” the indictment states.
The feds said the official handed over a fake bill to Adams and Suggs so it appeared that Suggs had paid for her hotel stay.
For the plush donations and top-notch travels, federal prosecutors have alleged, Adams successfully pushed the FDNY to allow the 36-story Turkish House to open in September 2021.
Just 4 minutes after it was green-lit, Adams notified a Turkish official, who called Adams his “brother” and a “true friend of Turkey.”
As the federal probe heated up, Adams and loyalists were also accused of attempting to cover their tracks.
While arranging another possible trip in 2019, Abbasova asked Adams to “please delete all messages you send me,” according to the indictment, to which he allegedly replied, “always do.”
As the heat reached boiling point on the Adams administration — a number of top officials had their homes raided, including Greco, Suggs and Abbasova.
During a voluntary interview with the FBI, Abbasova, who had been placed on leave from the administration for asking staffers to delete messages, allegedly excused herself to use the bathroom, where she is believed to have deleted an encrypted messaging app that she’d been using to text with Adams and Turkish officials, the US Attorney’s Office said.
Adams pleaded not guilty at his federal arraignment in Manhattan on Friday. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 45 years in prison.
