A 2019 fundraising event for Eric Adams hosted by a Brooklyn-based construction company was not disclosed to campaign finance officials despite requirements under city law, according to city records and interviews.
Early in his 2021 mayoral campaign, Adams took in at least $71,000 from Rybak Development employees and vendors at the urging of Rybak’s owner, Sergey Rybak, records and interviews show. New York City’s strict campaign finance laws require people who deliver donations from others — or “bundle” donations — to fill out an intermediary statement. But the Campaign Finance Board, which administers the city’s campaign finance system, has no record of such a declaration from Rybak.
The board’s rules also require candidates to maintain records for all fundraising events, including the date, location, organizers, expenses and contributions received. Adams did not disclose the 2019 event to the board, and the only details it could produce when asked by Gothamist were a date and an address.
The disclosure rules are meant to create transparency about which campaign donations are eligible for the city’s generous, taxpayer-funded 8-to-1 match on smaller donations.
Attendees of the Rybak Development event say Sergey Rybak insisted they donate and bring people to the fundraiser. At the same time, the construction company was applying for a zoning change that required the endorsement of Adams, who was then the Brooklyn borough president.
Adams’ campaign declined to explain the lack of records of the fundraiser and has said it disagrees generally with the disclosure requirements around bundlers.
“We cannot comment on the details of a federal investigation and an ongoing audit — but we are confident all rules and laws were followed,” campaign lawyer Vito Pitta said in a statement.
Several people in Adams’ campaign are currently embroiled in multiple fundraising investigations, but so far neither the mayor nor his campaign has been accused of any…
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