DA Bragg reportedly set to indict ally of NYC Mayor Adams on bribery charge

By 
 August 5, 2023

Aside from going after former President Donald Trump, it appears that Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg also has his prosecutorial sights set on individuals who are allied with New York City Mayor Eric Adams -- though reportedly not the Democratic mayor himself.

DA Bragg is reportedly set to unseal a criminal indictment against former NYC Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich on allegations of bribery and corruption, according to the New York Daily News.

Ulrich, a former Republican city councilmember, resigned from his commissioner role in the Adams administration last year after his phone was seized by investigators with Bragg's office and he was reportedly tipped off by the mayor himself that he was a target of a criminal investigation.

Alleged bribery, illegal gambling, ties to organized crime

The Daily News, citing anonymous sources, reported that Ulrich is expected to soon be indicted on allegations that he corruptly received a bribe from a friend in the form of a steeply discounted NYC apartment from real estate developer and landlord Mark Caller, who is also expected to be indicted too.

An attorney for Ulrich declined to comment on the reports of an impending indictment, but an attorney for Caller, Ben Brafman, told the outlet that he had been informed of imminent charges against his client that he asserted were "patently false."

"I’m under the impression that there is an indictment where (Caller) has been named," Brafman said in a statement. "It is my understanding that there will be an indictment. It will allege a bribery account involving the former commissioner of Buildings Ulrich.

The New York Times was the first to report this week on the anonymous claims of an impending sealed indictment against ex-Buildings Commissioner Ulrich, which is expected to be unsealed at some point between now and September.

In addition to the alleged bribe involving a below-market rate apartment, the indictment is also expected to include allegations related to Ulrich's purported ties to organized crime and illegal gambling.

Bragg busts alleged campaign finance scheme in support of Mayor Adams

In separate but related news, The Times reported that DA Bragg issued criminal indictments last month against six individuals -- including a former police inspector named Dwayne Montgomery who is close friends with Mayor Adams -- who are alleged to have engaged in a conspiracy to illegally funnel public funds into Adams' mayoral campaign in 2021.

That alleged scheme reportedly involved the use of straw donors who were recruited by Montgomery and others and given $250 to donate to Adams under their own names, which exploited the city's publicly-funded program that ostensibly encourages small donor participation by matching $250 donations with $2,000 contributions from a special city fund.

These recent reports about impending criminal charges for former Buildings Commissioner Ulrich are actually nothing new, as the New York Post reported several weeks ago that anonymous sources were claiming that the alleged grand jury indictment would be unsealed within a matter of days.

That report surmised that the charges were believed to include the discounted apartment as well as discounted furniture, not to mention gambling debts incurred in illegal card games with mob-linked associates and friends.

Attorney says he will wait for the actual indictment before commenting

However, the attorney for Ulrich, Sam Braverman, said in a statement to the Post at that time, "Anything anyone says is just a guess -- and probably without merit -- so I will await the indictment."

If the anonymously-sourced reports from The Times and the Daily News are accurate, then Braverman likely won't have to wait much longer for the alleged indictment against the former councilmember turned ex-commissioner with admitted alcoholism and gambling addictions to be dropped by DA Bragg.

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