New York Mayor’s Top Asian-American Fundraisers Under Federal Investigation for Chinese Influence

On 18 March 2025, The New York Times report­ed that fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tors are inves­ti­gat­ing two of May­or Eric Adams’s promi­nent fundrais­ers regard­ing poten­tial Chi­nese gov­ern­ment influ­ence schemes tar­get­ing his elec­tion. The arti­cle begins:

The Jus­tice Depart­ment is push­ing to drop cor­rup­tion charges against Eric Adams in Man­hat­tan while fed­er­al author­i­ties in Brook­lyn have been inves­ti­gat­ing his top fund-rais­ers. May­or Eric Adams of New York raised mil­lions for his 2021 cam­paign with the help of two promi­nent Chi­nese Amer­i­can fund-rais­ers. They have fac­tored in a cor­rup­tion inves­ti­ga­tion by fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tors in Brook­lyn. The Trump admin­is­tra­tion appears like­ly to suc­ceed in hav­ing fed­er­al cor­rup­tion charges dropped against May­or Eric Adams in Man­hat­tan. But in Brook­lyn, a sep­a­rate group of pros­e­cu­tors has been con­duct­ing a long-run­ning inves­ti­ga­tion involv­ing Mr. Adams’s most promi­nent fund-rais­er — and at one point searched her homes and office for evi­dence of a pos­si­ble Chi­nese gov­ern­ment scheme to influ­ence Mr. Adams’s elec­tion, accord­ing to a copy of a search war­rant, por­tions of which were read to The New York Times.

Read more

Key Points:

• Fed­er­al agents searched prop­er­ties of Win­nie Gre­co, Adams’s Asian affairs advis­er, seek­ing evi­dence of ille­gal for­eign con­tri­bu­tions and poten­tial Chi­nese gov­ern­ment influence.
• Sim­i­lar search­es tar­get­ed Lian Wu Shao, whose New World Mall in Queens host­ed numer­ous Adams fundrais­ers that gen­er­at­ed irreg­u­lar dona­tion patterns.
• The Brook­lyn inves­ti­ga­tion is sep­a­rate from oth­er Adams cor­rup­tion charges the Trump admin­is­tra­tion is seek­ing to dismiss.
• The case high­lights broad­er con­cerns about Chi­na’s attempts to gain influ­ence with­in local US gov­ern­ment through cam­paign finance networks.