Additional FBI raids revealed in Eric Adams campaign fundraising probe
The feds raided a City Hall staffer’s home as well as that of a former Turkish Airlines executive the same morning FBI agents descended on the Brooklyn home of Mayor Eric Adams’ top campaign fundraiser, it was revealed Friday.
Agents searched the New Jersey home of Rana Abbasova on Nov. 2 as part of a federal corruption investigation into the mayor’s 2021 campaign, law enforcement sources confirmed to The Post.
Abbasova was the individual found to have “acted improperly” following a City Hall review in the days after the raid of Brianna Suggs’ home and placed on leave, the New York Times first reported.
Adams has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
The feds also searched the Brooklyn home of Cenk Öcal, who worked on the mayor’s transition team.
The FBI is probing whether Adams’ team conspired with the Turkish government to fuel his campaign with foreign donations and whether he urged FDNY to fast track permits for a new high-rise Turkish consulate despite failing an earlier safety inspection.
Abbasova and Öcal, a former Turkish Airlines executive, each have ties to Turkey and the Big Apple.
An aide in Adams’s international affairs office, she previously served as his liaison to Brooklyn’s Turkish community for years while he served as borough president.
FBI agents raided Abbasova’s Fort Lee home in the early morning hours of Nov. 2, although it’s unclear whether any evidence was seized.
City Hall confirmed she was placed on leave amid the investigation earlier this week, although it was not immediately clear what Abbosova’s alleged improper behavior entailed.
City officials denied that she was ever employed or paid by Adams’ 2021 campaign.
Abbasova joined Adams staff as a community coordinator in 2018. She reportedly traveled to Turkey with Adams on a trip sponsored by the Turkish consulate and the World Tourism Forum Institute, the Times reported.
Öcal, who served on Adams’ transition team, previously worked as a Turkish Airlines executive in the company’s New York Office until last year, when he was fired, according to The Times.
Abbsaova, Öcal and Suggs have not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Investigators have also seized two of the mayor’s cellphones and an iPad as part of their probe.
On Tuesday, Adams admitted to helping the Turkish consulate get its approval to open and claimed doing so was nothing out of the ordinary.