Campaign Donor Pleaded Guilty to Trying to Bribe Mayor de Blasio

NEW YORK — A campaign donor to Mayor Bill de Blasio secretly pleaded guilty in federal court to trying to bribe the mayor to win favorable lease terms for a restaurant he owned on city property, newly unsealed court records show.

Although de Blasio was never charged with accepting a bribe, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York — where the donor, Harendra Singh, had been charged in September 2015 in an unrelated political corruption case on Long Island — concluded that Singh’s contributions to de Blasio constituted bribery.

The relationship between Singh and de Blasio had been a focus of investigations by the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York; after an 18-month inquiry, those prosecutors decided against charging the mayor, but harshly criticized him and his fundraising practices.

In a sealed courtroom on Long Island before U.S. District Court Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein, Singh pleaded guilty on Oct. 17, 2016, to bribery and honest services wire fraud in connection with campaign contributions, according to the records.

Spokesmen for the two U.S. attorneys’ offices declined to comment.

The mayor was not named in the court documents, but the details ascribed to “Official #2” clearly match de Blasio.

A spokesman for the mayor said campaign contributions play no role in decision-making.

“The allegations against this administration were never proven because they are not true,” said Eric F. Phillips, de Blasio’s press secretary.

“They are old news that’s been widely reported and reviewed extensively by federal prosecutors before they closed their investigation. We make decisions on the merits. Period.”

The federal information describes Singh’s negotiations with an unnamed New York City agency to renew a lease for one of his businesses. The details in the indictment match Singh’s efforts to negotiate a lease renewal with the Department of Citywide Administrative Services for his Water’s Edge restaurant, which operated on city property in Queens.

Singh started raising campaign contributions for the unnamed official in 2010, ultimately raising tens of thousands of dollars, according to the records. Singh was one of the earliest large donors when de Blasio began his mayoral campaign in 2010 and he, his family members and other associates ultimately raised a total of about $33,000 for the mayor.

The information also refers to several actions by Singh and city officials that contributed to the conspiracy. It refers to an Oct. 12, 2013, fundraiser that Singh hosted at his restaurant. On that date, campaign finance filings indicate, the de Blasio campaign held a fundraising event at Water’s Edge.

In December 2014, Singh sent an email to an aide to “Official #2” — the mayor — saying that he needed help with the agency involved in his lease renewal, according to the unsealed documents.

On July 30, 2015, the records show, a senior aide to “Official #2” arranged a meeting with Singh and the head of the city agency “in an effort to pressure the agency to make its proposed settlement terms more favorable” to Singh. On that date, one of de Blasio’s top aides, Emma Wolfe, held a meeting in City Hall with Singh and the head of the Administrative Services Department, Stacey Cumberbatch, to discuss Singh’s lease.

Neal Kwatra, a lobbyist working with Singh who had a close relationship with Wolfe, also attended the meeting.

The July 2015 meeting in City Hall was the start of intensive movement on the part of Wolfe’s office, which resulted in the city tentatively agreeing to settlement terms that were more favorable to Singh than had previously been offered. The city and Singh were close to finalizing their settlement when Singh was arrested as part of the Long Island corruption investigation.

Singh’s lawyer, Anthony M. La Pinta, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

As part of Singh’s plea from 2016, he also pleaded guilty to six other counts stemming from unrelated bribery schemes involving local government officials on Long Island and several businesses he owned there.

The transcript of Singh’s guilty plea was unsealed Tuesday in connection with the trial of one of the Long Island officials, Edward P. Mangano. Singh is expected to be an important witness in that case.