Prosecutors Seize Phone Of Cushman & Wakefield Broker In Probe Of NYC Real Estate Deals

A broker working for one of the world's largest commercial real estate services firms has been ensnared in a new investigation into possible corruption in the administration of New York City Mayor Eric Adams. 

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is looking into potential bribery, money laundering and other crimes committed by the administration, the fifth corruption inquiry surrounding the mayor, but the first by a state prosecutor.

As part of its investigation, Bragg's office has seized electronic devices belonging to a Cushman & Wakefield broker who represents the city in its office leases and is a longtime friend to Adams' top adviser, The New York Times reported.

Cushman & Wakefield Vice Chair Diana Boutross, Chief Advisor to the Mayor Ingrid Lewis-Martin and Jesse Hamilton, who heads the department that controls the city's real estate, had their phones taken by investigators on Sept. 27 at John F. Kennedy International Airport as they returned from a trip to Japan.

Lewis-Martin and Boutross are close friends and have been for many years, Lewis-Martin’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, told Bisnow in a phone call Thursday afternoon.

“There were eight friends who decided to go to one of the biggest tourist countries in the world to just explore on a long-planned friendship trip,” Aidala said.

Boutross runs the Cushman & Wakefield account for the city agency responsible for leasing government offices to other agencies, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, according to the Times. Boutross' resume includes work on hotel and retail deals, as well as serving as a broker for The Durst Organization and The Trump Organization, according to her bio on the brokerage’s website.

Boutross didn't personally respond to a request for comment, but a spokesperson for the brokerage sent Bisnow a statement by email.

“We have a longstanding, 15-year relationship with the city that spans across multiple mayoral administrations and we are proud of the important work we’ve done for DCAS,” the C&W spokesperson said.

That agency has a $40M contract with Cushman & Wakefield going back to 2014 that is linked to maintenance for a Bronx facility that handles 911 calls, Crain's New York Business reported.

The brokerage also represented city agencies as they signed leases for office space last year, including a 640K SF lease at 110 William St. in June, according to Crain's. The lease was one of last year's largest office deals in Manhattan, and it filled a prominent vacancy in a building that was in financial distress.

Reports of investigators seizing devices belonging to Lewis-Martin and Hamilton first surfaced last week.

Investigators informed Lewis-Martin that they were searching her Brooklyn home at the same time as they took her devices. The U.S. attorney’s office served Lewis-Martin with a grand jury subpoena for documents related to last month’s indictment of Adams at the same time, according to the Times.

“We expect employees to follow all ethical guidelines,” Fabien Levy, Adams’ deputy mayor of communications, told Bisnow in an email.

Lewis-Martin has been friends with Adams for almost four decades and was the first person he thanked onstage after winning the election for mayor in 2021, The New York Times previously reported.

“These searches and any negative connotations associated with them or this preplanned vacation are baseless,” Aidala said in a statement. “In due time, all the facts will come out and will be supported by evidence and demonstrate everything was done properly.”

When reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Aidala said that his client’s devices were seized to aid the investigation, not because she is a target of the investigation.

“It's just that she may have evidence regarding other crimes,” he told Bisnow.

Hamilton, who was on the trip with Boutross and Lewis-Martin, succeeded Adams as a state senator for a district including Crown Heights but lost his campaign for reelection in 2018, The City reported. When Adams became mayor, he appointed Hamilton as NYC’s deputy commissioner for the DCAS.

Bragg's investigation compounds the legal trouble for Adams' inner circle. Federal prosecutors unsealed a criminal indictment on Sept. 26 on five charges in a bribery probe that included allegations that Adams pressured fire safety officials to sign off on a skyscraper for the Turkish government that would have otherwise failed inspection.