Erden Arkan, a wealthy construction magnate, has indicated that he wants to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge in connection with the illegal collection of campaign contributions, federal prosecutors said Monday. Prosecutors said that the plea would be to a conspiracy charge alleging he committed wire fraud through the collection of campaign contributions made under the name of someone other than the true contributor.
Prosecutors say that a subsequent request for public funds was based on the misrepresentation that contributions came from the named contributors. A well-known member of New York’s Turkish community, Arkan is a co-owner of KSK, a Brooklyn-based construction firm specializing in luxury condominiums. His firm’s ties to Adams emerged in November 2023, as investigators searched his residence, along with the home of Adams’ chief fundraiser and his liaison to the Turkish community. Adams, a Democrat, has pleaded not guilty to federal bribery charges alleging that he accepted luxury travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals hoping to buy his influence for their benefit. Federal prosecutors say Adams personally solicited illegal campaign contributions from Arkan at an April 2021 dinner hosted by the official in the Turkish government. The following month, Arkan hosted a fundraiser for Adams in which 11 of his employees donated between $1,200 and $1,500 to the campaign