FBI probes NYC Mayor’s ties with Uzbek businessman in alleged campaign donation scheme

In September 2024, Mayor Eric Adams faced federal corruption charges. Initially suspected of receiving illegal campaign donations from Turkey, the investigation soon expanded to include Adams' connections with Israel, Qatar, China, South Korea – and Uzbekistan.

According to The City, Tolib Mansurov, a New York-based businessman originally from Uzbekistan, has become a central figure in the case.

“A Brooklyn businessman served as a proxy for the government of Uzbekistan to leverage Mayor Eric Adams’ stature as the leader of the nation’s biggest city to sanitize the regime’s tarnished image,” the outlet reported, citing investigation materials.

Mansurov is accused of organizing unlawful campaign contributions to support Adams’ political ambitions.

Prosecutors claim that, in return for this support, the mayor held an event with Uzbek leaders at City Hall, organized a flag-raising ceremony for Uzbekistan at Bowling Green Park, and intervened in a dispute between Mansurov and the NYC Department of Buildings in the businessman’s favor.

Investigators suggest that Mansurov’s alleged mission – exerting influence on behalf of a foreign government through the city’s mayor – mirrors other covert fundraising practices that Adams has been accused of over the years.

Prosecutors believe the goal was to use Adams’ public image to improve Uzbekistan’s international reputation.

Adams' dealings with Turkish diaspora members – suspected of representing Ankara’s interests – are under similar scrutiny.

According to court documents, prosecutors regard Mansurov as linked to the government of Uzbekistan and working to influence Adams on matters concerning Uzbekistan and Central Asia. During the time he was soliciting campaign donations, he reportedly maintained regular contact with Uzbekistan’s mission to the United Nations.

The documents also allege that Mansurov was involved in a complex money-laundering scheme that routed funds from a company based in Cyprus, which he used to purchase real estate in Brooklyn. Mansurov reportedly holds both U.S. and Uzbek citizenship.

When contacted by The City, the businessman declined to comment, saying, “I’m sorry, I’m not available right now,” before hanging up.

No formal charges have been filed against Mansurov. He has agreed to cooperate with authorities. In discussions with investigators, he denied the money-laundering allegations but admitted to raising tens of thousands of dollars for Adams on three occasions – sometimes reimbursing donors, effectively circumventing campaign finance laws.

This type of reimbursement allowed Adams to collect more money than legally permitted, prosecutors allege.

In one text session in which the mayor solicited yet another round of donations for his reelection campaign, Adams gushed to Mansurov, “You have always been my strongest go to person.”

Investigators say that while raising funds for Adams in 2023 and early 2024, Mansurov communicated 292 times with a phone number registered to a member of Uzbekistan’s UN delegation. (The delegation did not respond to inquiries from The City.)

Search warrants revealed that Mansurov was actively lobbying City Hall for support. He reportedly maintained frequent contact with Fred Kreizman, the mayor’s Commissioner for Community Affairs. Records show that Mansurov called Kreizman 55 times in 2023.

Prosecutors note that Mansurov began fundraising for Adams as early as December 2020. At the time, Mohammad Bahi, a volunteer for Adams’ 2021 campaign, asked Mansurov for a $10,000 donation. Bahi informed him that corporate contributions were prohibited and that individual donations were capped at $2,000. Mansurov then made contributions in his name and the names of four employees at his company, United Elite Group—each for $2,000.

In June 2023, Adams directly texted Mansurov asking for contributions for his 2025 reelection campaign. This time, Mansurov organized $1,000 donations from ten different individuals.

In May 2024, Adams messaged Mansurov via the Signal app saying, “I need big help.” The mayor needed to collect 1,000 small donations of $250 each to qualify for public matching funds (the NYC Campaign Finance Board provides an 8-to-1 match for local donations). It’s unclear whether Mansurov followed through on this request, though his company’s CFO, Oybek Shokirov, did make a $250 donation that month.

Mansurov is also accused of leveraging his ties with Adams to advance his business interests. When he encountered problems with the NYC Department of Buildings over a six-story development in Crown Heights, he contacted the mayor. Following this, several restrictions on his construction project were lifted.

In June 2024, the FBI and NYC’s Internal Affairs Bureau questioned Mansurov and four others as part of the fake donation investigation.

Investigation files also mention that Mayor Adams fulfilled requests from Turkish officials and received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Chinese diaspora leaders for his campaign.

Notably, Eric Adams, a 64-year-old Democrat, is the first sitting mayor in New York City history to be federally indicted.

On April 2, 2025, a federal judge dismissed the criminal case against him at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The move sparked backlash, with several prosecutors resigning in protest.

Media outlets have reported that the DOJ was instructed to drop politically sensitive cases dating back to the Trump administration.