Eric Adams federal probe hones in on little-known Turkish businessman

Federal prosecutors have honed in on ties between New York City Mayor Eric Adams and little-known Turkish businessman Enver Yucel, CNBC has learned from the indictment and other public records, including campaign finance documents.

A federal indictment unsealed on Thursday describes a 2021 campaign fundraising scheme involving Adams, his team and a person only identified in the indictment as "Businessman-1." That man appears to be Yucel, the owner of a network of universities, including one in Turkey called Bahcesehir University and another based in Washington, D.C. named Bay Atlantic University.

Yucel is described within the indictment as a businessman who owns a university in Turkey which helped pay for Adams' visit to the country in 2015 while the mayor was still the Brooklyn borough president.

An August 2015 letter from New York's conflict of interest board approving the travel, lists Bahcesehir as the only university helping pay for the trip. The City reported that Adams met with Yucel in December 2015 as part of his second trip that year to the country.

Requests for comment through leaders of the two Yucel owned universities and an email to the address listed on Yucel's personal website were not returned. A spokesman for Adams referred CNBC to his personal attorneys who did not return requests for comment.

Adams has said he's innocent and did nothing wrong.

Still, Yucel appeared to play a key role in the alleged scheme by Adams and his campaign to illegally raise money from foreign donors for his mayoral campaign, which officially launched in 2020.

"In November 2018, Businessman-1, the wealthy Turkish national who owned the Turkish University, a for-profit educational conglomerate in Turkey, and whom Adams met there in 2015-visited New York City" for a meeting with Adams, prosecutors say.

It was at that meeting when prosecutors say Yucel offered to contribute to Adams' soon to be launched campaign for mayor. Despite knowing the laws barring foreign donors, Adams instructed one of his aides to "obtain the illegal contributions offered by Businessman-1."

"Following up on this directive, Adams wrote to the Adams Staffer that Businessman-1 'is ready to help. I don't want his willing to help be waisted,'' federal prosecutors said in their indictment.

Adams, his advisor and Yucel executed their plan in 2021 "to funnel Businessman-1's money to the 2021 campaign, knowing full well that these donations would violate the law against U.S. political campaigns receiving contributions from foreign nationals," according to the indictment.

In August 2021, it was decided the "the plan [was] to funnel Businessman-1's contribution to the 2021 campaign through the Turkish University's U.S.-based employees."

New York City campaign finance records show that five U.S. employees of Bay Atlantic University donated a combined $10,000 to the Adams campaign on Sept. 27, 2021.

The date of the contributions within campaign finance records is the same day on which prosecutors say the "Turkish University ultimately made its straw contribution."

The contributions were eventually refunded "but not before Adams submitted a disclosure statement to the [Campaign Finance Board] that falsely claimed the U.S.-based Turkish University employees were the true donors," according to the documents.

After Adams won the race for mayor in Nov. 2021, Yucel posted a photo of himself with Adams on Instagram.

"I would cordially like to congratulate my dear friend Eric Adams for his new role as the new mayor of New York City and wishing continuous success for his future endeavours," Yucel wrote next to the photo.

In the picture, Adams and Yucel are standing together, holding a book titled "How Not to Die."