Ingrid Lewis-Martin, a former senior adviser to Mayor Eric Adams, was indicted by Manhattan prosecutors on Thursday on allegations that she and her son, Glenn Martin II, engaged in a $100,000 bribery scheme with real-estate investors.
In the indictment, prosecutors allege that Lewis-Martin used her position in city government to help expedite approval for construction applications for Raizada Vaid and Mayank Dwivedi, two business owners, by reaching out directly to the Department of Buildings to advocate on their behalf. They claim Lewis-Martin instructed the businessmen to use the encrypted messaging app Signal while using specific coded language. “Please only use Signal for asks,” she told Vaid in one 2023 text message.
In exchange, the two men agreed to assist her son in his business endeavors including his fashion line and backing for a Chick-fil-A franchise. Martin also received a $50,000 personal check from Vaid and a $50,000 cashier’s check from Dwivedi which he deposited into a joint bank account he shared with his mother. Martin then allegedly put the funds toward the purchase of a 2023 Porsche.
“Even without the bribe payments here, the jumping to the front of the line. Naked cronyism that, in and of itself, is anathema to the public service,” Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said during a press conference announcing the charges.
Lewis-Martin and Martin both face three counts of conspiracy in the fourth degree, bribe receiving in the first degree, and money laundering in the third degree. Vaid and Dwivedi were charged with conspiracy in the fourth degree as well as bribery in the first degree. All four defendants surrendered to authorities early Thursday morning.
Lewis-Martin has served as chief adviser to Adams since January 2022 until her abrupt resignation on Sunday. Previously, she worked under him as deputy Brooklyn borough president and as Adams’s top adviser and chief of staff when he was state senator. Despite Lewis-Martin’s deep ties to the mayor, Bragg was explicit that Adams has not been implicated in this matter.
“These charges do not allege any criminal conduct by Mayor Eric Adams. The mayor is not a target of our investigation, and we do not have evidence of criminal conduct by the mayor,” he said.
