Queens Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar is returning a donation her city comptroller campaign recently received from a businessman indicted Thursday on bribery charges alongside Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Mayor Adams’ longtime confidante and former chief adviser at City Hall.
Arvind Sooknanan, a spokesman for Rajkumar, confirmed late Thursday that the candidate will give back the $2,100 she got in August for her comptroller run from Raizada “Pinky” Vaid, one of two real estate investors charged with bribing Lewis-Martin and her son in exchange for Lewis-Martin using her government influence to expedite Buildings Department permits for their construction projects.
Lewis-Martin resigned from her position last week.
Sooknanan said Rajkumar, a prominent Adams ally who often appears with the mayor at public events, will also refund a $1,000 contribution Vaid gave her Assembly campaign in October 2022.
“Our campaign has no problem returning the contributions out of an abundance of caution,” said Sooknanan, whose boss is running in June’s Democratic comptroller primary against multiple candidates, including City Councilman Justin Brannan and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.
Rajkumar isn’t the only local politician who has gotten cash from Vaid and his business partner, Mayank Dwivedi, who is also alleged to have bribed Lewis-Martin and her son.
According to state records, Vaid gave Gov. Hochul’s campaign $2,500 in January 2022 and $1,000 to Assemblyman Mark Weprin’s 2024 campaign in October. Spokespeople for Hochul and Weprin did not immediately return requests for comment late Thursday.
Dwivedi doesn’t have any record of making political contributions on the city government level, but he pumped $10,000 into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign in October 2017, state filings show. A spokesman for Cuomo did not immediately return a request for comment, either.
In an indictment unsealed in Manhattan Criminal Court, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office alleged Vaid and Dwivedi gave Lewis-Martin and her son, Glenn Martin II, $100,000 in exchange for her government favors. The two businessmen also allegedly made commitments to invest in business ventures floated by the younger Martin, who is a professional DJ known as “Suave Luciano.”
All four pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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