NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors allege a top aide to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams accepted diamond earrings from two real estate developers and then pressured city regulators to speed up construction projects despite safety concerns.
In court documents filed Tuesday, Manhattan prosecutors provided new details about one of several bribery schemes they say was carried out by Ingrid Lewis-Martin, a close friend of Adams who once served as the No. 2 in city government.
She resigned in late 2024, shortly after she and her son were accused of accepting more than $100,000 in bribes from two developers, Raizada Vaid and Mayank Dwivedi. All four have pleaded not guilty.
Lewis-Martin was subsequently indicted in August on another bribery charge that accused her of exchanging political favors, including canceling a planned bike lane and steering a shelter contract to a favored developer, in exchange for cash, home improvements and even a speaking role on the TV show “The Godfather of Harlem.” She has also pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Lewis-Martin’s lawyers insist she is simply helping her constituents cut through red tape.
The latest documents expand the initial charges against Lewis-Martin and his son, Glenn D. Martin II, who performs under the stage name DJ Suave Luciano.
According to new court documents, shortly after meeting with Vaid and Dwivedi in 2022, Lewis-Martin received a set of 2-carat diamond earrings worth approximately $3,000 from the developer.
Lewis Martin then pressured city regulators to expedite approvals for the developer’s project, prosecutors said. In one case, prosecutors said, she pushed the acting Department of Buildings commissioner to approve renovation plans for a Vaid-owned Manhattan hotel despite “legitimate safety concerns” raised by building inspectors.
After city regulators agreed to expedite the application, Lewis-Martin texted her son that Vaid would keep him “completely covered. Your(r) fashion line is 100 percent,” according to court documents. Vaid also promised to help Martin II open a Chick-fil-A franchise, prosecutors said.
Lewis Martin’s attorney, Arthur Aidara, criticized the length of the document in an email but did not mention its substance.
“We look forward to a robust response to the prosecutor’s 170-page desperate response to our motion to dismiss,” Aidala said. “This is the longest response we have ever seen to a motion and speaks volumes about their insecurity about their case.”
Inquiries to lawyers for Martin II, Waid and Devidi went unanswered.
The case against Lewis Martin, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, first emerged during a period of overlapping scandals in the Adams administration. This is unrelated to Adams’ own indictment on federal corruption charges, which were dismissed by the Justice Department last year. Adams has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the Lewis-Martin case.
A spokesman for Adams did not respond to inquiries about Lewis Martin’s latest accusation.
