Feds probe whether NYC Council member, Hochul aide took bribes to help migrant shelter provider

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors are investigating whether a New York City Council member and her sister, an aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul, accepted bribes or kickbacks in connection with the appropriation of city funds to a migrant shelter provider, according to a copy of a search warrant obtained by The Associated Press.

The warrant, signed March 19, seeks evidence of possible criminal violations involving Councilmember Farah Louis, a Brooklyn Democrat, and Debbie Louis, who serves as Hochul’s assistant secretary of New York City intergovernmental affairs.

It also names Edu Hermelyn, the husband of state Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who chairs the Brooklyn Democratic Party.

A spokesperson for Hochul confirmed that Debbie Louis was placed on leave last week after the governor learned of the federal corruption investigation. A person who answered a phone number listed for Louis promptly hung up after being asked about the probe.

Voicemail messages seeking comment from Farah Louis and Edu Hermelyn were not returned.

The warrant, for a phone connected to the investigation, said prosecutors are seeking information about whether the three received benefits in exchange for actions taken on behalf of BHRAGS Home Care Inc., a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that provides in-home services to the sick and elderly.

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In 2022, as an influx of asylum seekers began arriving in the city, the nonprofit expanded its mission to include emergency shelters for migrants and other homeless services. Records show they have since received more than a dozen contracts, totaling over $200 million, from the Department of Homeless Services.

An attorney for the executive director of BHRAGS, Roberto Samedy, declined to comment.

The warrant also seeks records of money transfers and communications between the officials and Edouardo St. Fort, a former New York Police Department sergeant who retired in 2023

The same year, records show his security company, Fort NYC Security, received a $3 million contract from the Department of Homeless Services. An email and voice message left with St. Fort was not returned.

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn declined to comment.

The existence of a search warrant doesn’t necessarily indicate that prosecutors plan to bring criminal charges, only that investigators persuaded a magistrate judge to allow them to dig deeper and seize evidence.

As the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants overwhelmed New York City’s shelter system, the city’s former mayor, Eric Adams, oversaw the rapid roll out of a new emergency shelter network, inking lucrative contacts with service providers. Some of those contracts have come under scrutiny from financial watchdogs and critics of Adams.

Adams, a Democrat, was later indicted on unrelated federal charges of accepting bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources while he was Brooklyn’s borough president. Those charges were ultimately dropped by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department, which said the criminal case was distracting Adams from assisting with the president’s immigration crackdown.

Both the Louis sisters and Heremlyn are prominent fixtures within Brooklyn’s Democratic county committee, which has also faced a barrage of scandals in recent years.

Hermelyn briefly served as a senior advisor to Adams, but resigned over questions about whether his position as a Brooklyn district leader violated rules forbidding dual government roles.

He later advised Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his failed mayoral bid.