Eleven employees of the Brooklyn construction company embroiled in an FBI probe involving one of Mayor Eric Adams’ top fundraisers all made donations to Hizzoner’s campaign on the same day in 2021 — and for nearly identical amounts, records show.
One of the investigation’s focuses is whether Adams’ campaign conspired with the KSK Construction Group and Turkish government to use “straw donors” to illegally funnel foreign cash into Hizzoner’s campaign coffers in exchange for favors, law-enforcement sources have said. A straw donor is a person or company which illegally makes a donation with someone else’s money but using their own name to hide its source.
Sertac Varol, a Queens resident who is listed in campaign filings as a “partner” at KSK — and as giving $1,250 to the Adams campaign — told The City that he doesn’t recall making the donation.
Varol, whose address is listed in a gated condominium complex in Bayside, Queens, said he doesn’t think he’s ever made a political contribution.
Yet he was one of at least nine KSK employees who are listed in campaign finance filings as having each donated $1,250 — all the same day, May 7, 2021 — to Adams’ campaign, according to records reviewed by The Post.
Adams said in a statement Friday, “I am outraged and angry if anyone attempted to use the campaign to manipulate our democracy and defraud our campaign.
11 employees of the Brooklyn construction company embroiled in an FBI probe involving one of Mayor Eric Adams’ top fundraisers all made donations to Hizzoner’s campaign on the same day in 2021. Paul Martinka“I want to be clear, I have no knowledge, direct or otherwise, of any improper fundraising activity—and certainly not of any foreign money. We will of course work with officials to respond to inquiries, as appropriate — as we always have.”
Details of the nearly $14,000 in total donations from 11 KSK employees came to light a day after it emerged the feds were investigating if any funds were illegally funneled to Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign as part of an alleged kickback scheme involving the Williamsburg-based company and Turkish government.
The company’s Turkish owner, Erden Arkan, coughed up slightly more to the Adams campaign when donating May 7, 2021, with his contribution coming in at $1,500, the filings show.
Details of the nearly $14,000 in total donations from KSK Construction Group employees came to light a day after it emerged the feds were investigating if any funds were illegally funneled to Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign. Dennis A. ClarkThe job titles of other KSK workers listed in the campaign filings range from “project managers” and “construction” to the “finance director.”
The donations were made at a fundraiser organized by the company’s owner, The City reported, citing internal campaign documents.
In total, the event raised $69,720 from a total of 82 donors.
Sertac Varol, a Queens resident who is listed in campaign filings as a “partner” at KSK — and as giving $1,250 to the Adams campaign — told The City that he doesn’t recall making the donation. Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.Abigal Nitka — a woman listed as an “engineer/lawyer” for KSK — refused to talk when The Post buzzed her penthouse apartment in Williamsburg.
“I’m not making any comments right now,” she said.
Pressed about the allegations, Nitka responded, “Sorry babe, no comment.”
When contacted by The City, she said, “We’re innocent.”
The Post also has reached out to the employees listed in the filings but has yet to receive comment.
A doorman at Arkan’s luxe SoHo apartment building Friday refused to buzz the business owner.
A man who works next door told The Post he spotted about eight to 10 “security” types, clad with guns, leaving the apartment building with a suited-up man early Thursday.
The man was whisked away in one of several blacked out SUVs, but the local worker couldn’t confirm if it was the construction company’s boss.
KSK also didn’t respond to requests for comment Friday.
The firm specializes in luxe condo projects, according to its website. The company has at least one project under construction in Brooklyn’s Fort Green neighborhood, records show.
The developments come after the feds raided the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, one of the mayor’s top fundraisers as investigators have sought documents about records of travel to Turkey by any of the campaign’s employees. serincThe developments come after the feds raided the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs — one of the mayor’s top fundraisers — Thursday as part of a broader public-corruption probe.
Adams’ 2021 campaign counsel Vito Pitta said in a statement, “Immediately upon learning about the federal inquiry, the campaign started an extensive review of all documents and actions by campaign workers connected to the contributors in question.”
Investigators have sought documents about records of travel to Turkey by any of the campaign’s employees or associates and documents that could shed light on the campaign’s interactions with the Turkish government, the New York Times reported, citing a copy of the search warrant.
During the raid on Suggs’ home, the feds seized three iPhones, two laptops and a slew of papers and other evidence — including a manila folder labeled “Eric Adams.”
The warrant also stated agents were looking for evidence of the theft of federal funds, wire fraud, conspiracy to steal federal funds and wire fraud conspiracy.
“This is a campaign of embarrassment. The [feds] are trying to shake that tree, get people to talk who may be on a wire. Because that’s what people do,” a law-enforcement source told The Post.
Neither Suggs or the mayor have been arrested or charged with a crime.
Adams, on his part, said he hasn’t been contacted by any law enforcement agency — but he abruptly bailed on a slate of White House immigration meetings in Washington DC to fly back to the Big Apple.
Additional reporting by Joe Marino and Valentina Jaramillo






