The hospitality executive challenging Rep. Carolyn Maloney is playing fast and loose with election law, according to campaign records.

The records show Suraj Patel has raised $1.2 million and spent all but $40,000 on the June 26 Democratic primary.

But donations totaling about $200,000 were earmarked for the general election and can’t be diverted to the primary under federal election law, said one campaign expert.

“You can’t use general election donations for the primary campaign.” said election lawyer Jerry Goldfeder.

In the 12th Congressional District that takes in the East Side of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and Queens, the winner of the primary is a virtual shoo-in for November’s general election.

Patel, 34, president of the Indiana-based Sun Group of Companies, oversees a network of hotels in 14 states with 2,000 employees.

For a first-time candidate, Patel raised an impressive sum from family connections and business associates as well as a large base of South Asian-American contributors.

Patel’s campaign insisted it’s complying — not skirting — the rules.

“The campaign is ensuring that primary expenses are covered with primary funds. When we file our next FEC report, that will be clear,” said Patel campaign manager Sam Haass.

“But unlike Congresswoman Maloney, who has taken millions of dollars from Wall Street firms while deregulating them in Congress, Suraj isn’t taking a dime of corporate PAC money.”

Maloney, 72, first elected in 1992, is heavily favored to win re-election over the insurgent.

She raised $1.6 million and had $793,347 on hand as of June 6.