F.B.I. Examining Free Airfare Upgrades Received by Adams - The New York Times

[Gunnar Larson]

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/05/nyregion/eric-adams-turkish-airlines-upgrades.html


F.B.I. Examining Free Airfare Upgrades Received by Adams
Federal prosecutors and F.B.I. agents are scrutinizing international
flights taken by Mayor Eric Adams of New York aboard Turkey’s national air
carrier, Turkish Airlines.

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Mayor Eric Adams photographed at a news conference while wearing a dark
suit and tie.
The campaign fund-raising of Mayor Eric Adams of New York has been the
subject of a broad federal corruption investigation.Credit...David Dee
Delgado for The New York Times
William K. RashbaumMichael RothfeldDana Rubinstein
By William K. Rashbaum, Michael Rothfeld and Dana Rubinstein
April 5, 2024
Federal authorities investigating Mayor Eric Adams’s campaign fund-raising
have been examining valuable flight upgrades they believe he received from
Turkish Airlines that elevated him to its highest class of seats available
on international trips, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The scrutiny is part of a broad corruption inquiry that has already led the
F.B.I. to search the homes of the former top New York-based executive of
Turkish Airlines and aides to Mr. Adams, who has frequently traveled abroad
and has made no secret of his affinity for flying on the Turkish carrier.

The investigation burst into public view in November after F.B.I. agents
searched the homes of the former airline executive, Cenk Öcal, the mayor’s
liaison to the Turkish community, Rana Abbasova, and his chief fund-raiser,
Brianna Suggs — and seized Mr. Adams’s electronic devices.

The inquiry has shaken an administration that has become increasingly mired
in investigations and beset by legal and ethical problems.

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The broader investigation has focused at least in part on whether the
Turkish government conspired with Mr. Adams’s mayoral campaign to funnel
foreign money into its coffers, and whether Mr. Adams pressured the New
York City Fire Department to sign off on Turkey’s new high-rise consulate
in Manhattan despite safety concerns.

Mr. Adams’s relationship with Turkish Airlines has extended beyond that of
simply being a passenger. He has attended meetings and events with
representatives of the air carrier, which is half-owned by the Turkish
government’s sovereign wealth fund. Some of those interactions took place
in the presence of Turkish business leaders and diplomats with their own
close ties to Turkey’s government and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan and F.B.I. agents conducting the inquiry
have developed evidence that Mr. Öcal helped arrange at least some of the
upgrades in coordination with Ms. Abbasova, two of the people familiar with
the federal investigation said. They and others interviewed for this
article spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing federal
investigation.

Mr. Adams, who extolled Turkish Airlines in 2017 when he told a
pro-government publication that the carrier “is my way of flying,” received
the upgrades both while serving as Brooklyn borough president and as mayor,
on both official and personal trips, some of the people said.

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Brendan R. McGuire, a lawyer for the mayor and his 2021 campaign, said
there was nothing wrong with Mr. Adams’s receipt of the upgrades.

“As borough president, the mayor consistently disclosed his official travel
to Turkey, did not receive any improper upgrades and did nothing
inappropriate in exchange for an upgrade,” Mr. McGuire said. “Speculation
is not evidence. We look forward to a just and timely conclusion to this
investigation.”

The F.B.I. searches on Nov. 2 prompted the mayor’s abrupt return from a
trip to Washington, D.C., where he was seeking federal aid for the city’s
migrant crisis. They were followed by weeks of news coverage focused on the
corruption inquiry, but agents and prosecutors have made few public moves
since then.

Mr. Adams has not been accused of wrongdoing, and it remains unclear
whether the investigation will lead to criminal charges against him, Mr.
Öcal, Ms. Abbasova or anyone else.

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A lawyer for Ms. Abbasova, Rachel Maimin, declined to comment. After
repeated attempts to reach Mr. Öcal, including visits to his New Jersey
home and messages left with his wife, he declined to answer questions or
provide the name of his lawyer.

A representative of Turkish Airlines declined to comment, as did spokesmen
for the F.B.I. and the federal prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office
for the Southern District of New York, who are jointly conducting the
inquiry.

Mr. Adams has long boasted of being an avid traveler, and he has taken
trips in recent years to Turkey, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and
Tobago, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Monaco, Ghana, Azerbaijan, Greece,
Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Senegal and China. He has talked about
retiring to Azerbaijan, Israel and Lebanon.

It was unclear how many free upgrades Mr. Adams accepted while flying
Turkish Airlines or what their total value was. In 2023, round-trip
business class seats on Turkish Airlines between the United States and
Turkey generally cost at least $3,400 apiece — or about four times as much
as an economy class seat, travel industry experts said.

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It was also unclear what, if anything, Mr. Öcal, the airline or the Turkish
government might have gained from awarding the upgrades.

But Mr. Adams received the upgrades during a period in which he and the
airline were developing a close relationship, a New York Times review of
city emails suggests.

Mr. Adams has flown on Turkish Airlines since at least August 2015, when as
Brooklyn borough president he took an official trip to Turkey and the
carrier funded travel that his aides valued at about $1,500.

Mr. Adams took a second official trip four months later, justifying it by
saying he needed to speak about “city marketing” at a conference, meet with
local officials and visit a refugee camp, city records show. Mr. Adams flew
Turkish Airlines on that trip as well, according to the records.

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On another trip to Turkey in 2017, this time in a private capacity, he gave
an interview praising Turkish Airlines to The Daily Sabah, saying that it
accommodated his dietary needs and lauding its security protocols.

Sent from 2015 to 2021, while Mr. Adams was borough president, the emails
reviewed by The Times make reference to a series of private meetings
between Mr. Adams, Turkish Airlines executives and Turkish government
officials and businesspeople, as well as appearances with them at public
events.

Image
An excerpt from an email about scheduling a dinner with Mr. Adams and
Turkish Airlines.
Emails obtained by The New York Times show that Mr. Adams’s relationship
with Turkish Airlines dates at least to his time as Brooklyn borough
president.
Often the meetings and appearances were arranged through Ms. Abbasova, Mr.
Adams’s liaison to the Turkish community.

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More than a few involved Mr. Öcal, who appeared to be on a first-name basis
with Mr. Adams. “Cenk from turkish airlines opening,” Mr. Adams wrote to
his staff in response to one invitation to an event, possibly referring to
Mr. Öcal’s speaking slot. Mr. Öcal would later serve as one of several
hundred people on Mr. Adams’s mayoral transition team.

The first meeting described in the emails was scheduled for May 2016, when
Ms. Abbasova inquired if he could attend a “dinner w Turkish Airlines.” The
emails did not specify with whom he would be meeting, but his assistant
responded that he would be available.

He agreed to another meeting, a dinner with Mr. Öcal at Liman, a Turkish
restaurant in Brooklyn, in April 2017, the emails show. Also scheduled to
attend were the chairman and treasurer of the Türken Foundation, an
American charity with close ties to the Turkish government. It was
incorporated in 2014 by a son of Mr. Erdoğan and another man, who at the
time was a board member of Turkish Airlines. Mr. Erdoğan’s daughter
currently sits on its board.

Image
Another excerpt from an email.
Mr. Adams attended meetings and events with Turkish business and government
officials.
The Türken Foundation’s chairman, Behram Turan, its treasurer, Memiş Yetim,
and another board member would go on to give a total of $6,000 to Mr.
Adams’s mayoral campaign from 2018 to 2021, contributions that were first
reported by The City. Mr. Adams’s campaign refunded $1,000 to Mr. Turan to
comply with the rules of the city’s public matching funds program.

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Reached late last year, Mr. Turan, an engineer who lives in New Jersey,
said he was an American citizen who has lived in the country for 30 years.
He added that there was nothing inappropriate about his donation. On
Thursday, Mr. Yetim said he could not remember the dinner with Mr. Adams.
Mr. Turan declined to comment.

In September 2017, Mr. Adams attended a Türken Foundation dinner and event
with Mr. Erdoğan at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Manhattan. Mr. Adams
would later present Mr. Yetim with a proclamation honoring the Türken
Foundation for “outstanding achievements and contributions to society.”

In December 2017, Mr. Adams was scheduled to attend another dinner, this
time with Turkish consular officials, at a Brooklyn seafood restaurant run
by two of his close friends. Mr. Öcal and another top Turkish Airlines
official were on the guest list, the emails show.

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In 2019, the emails show, Ms. Abbasova passed along an invitation from
Turkish Airlines for Mr. Adams to attend a gala at the Metropolitan Club in
Manhattan. Mr. Adams had another event that night but an internal staff
memo noted that he would do his best to attend, the emails show. Ms.
Abbasova would be on site and provide frequent updates, the memo said.

Mr. Adams did make it to the event, which featured Turkish dishes, a raw
bar and high-end cocktails. He even took the microphone to speak, according
to an article in Elite Traveler, a luxury lifestyle publication, which
published photos of the event, including several of Mr. Öcal in a shiny
blue tuxedo. Mr. Adams was the only city official listed in the account of
the night, along with Turkish consular officials and diplomats, business
leaders and Martha Stewart.

Mr. Adams won the Democratic mayoral primary in June 2021. Soon after, he
contacted the commissioner of the New York Fire Department at the time and
urged him to allow the opening of the Turkish consulate building, which had
been held up over fire safety concerns. The building received a temporary
certificate of occupancy that September — shortly before Mr. Erdoğan
presided over the consulate’s grand opening in Manhattan.

Mr. Adams previously said it was part of his role as borough president “to
notify government agencies of issues on behalf of constituents and
constituencies.”

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In May 2022, the Turkish Philanthropy Funds, a New-York based nonprofit
devoted to supporting social investments in the Turkish and Turkish
American communities, held its 15th anniversary gala at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. Mr. Adams, who made remarks at the event, was there in a
dark suit, posing with the foundation’s chairman and the night’s honoree,
the billionaire founder of the strained yogurt company Chobani.

Mr. Öcal was there too, and was photographed in a tuxedo with the Turkish
ambassador to the United States and their wives. It is unclear if he
interacted with Mr. Adams that night. Their fortunes had gone in opposite
directions.

Mr. Öcal had been fired by Turkish Airlines by then, according to a Turkish
news report, and Mr. Adams was newly ensconced as the mayor.
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