The NYPD under Mayor Eric Adams solicited bribes for promotions, falsified time cards, put unqualified pals in specialized units and routinely ignored rules on body cameras, a bombshell series of new lawsuits claims.

Four bombshell lawsuits filed late Monday accuse Adams and his top NYPD allies of running a department where corruption and retaliation were common, and substantiate rumors of multiple federal and local investigations into illegal behavior.

The suits come as Adams faces an uphill re-election campaign as an independent.

The suits also show at least two federal investigations are examining claims that the mayor’s longtime NYPD pals approved falsified overtime splits and sold promotions for tens of thousands of dollars.

Former NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig’s lawsuit claims former Commissioner Edward Caban sold promotions for up to $15,000, and is currently under a federal investigation for selling shields.

According to the suit, Caban “tired” of Essig — the former top-ranking detective — challenging him and former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey’s “unusual and non-customary promotion and transfer practices.” 

Those unusual practices Essig cites included “an especially high number of unvetted promotions” into the mega-sensitive Special Victims Unit. 

After Essig warned that others would notice the unusual activity at SVU, he was told to take a $50,000 pay cut — or resign.

A federal investigation “into Caban’s scheme of selling discretionary promotions” began after Essig “was forced to resign” in September 2023, his suit claims.

In another suit, the second in command of Internal Affairs, Joseph Veneziano — a 30-year NYPD veteran — allegedly faced a similar ultimatum after looking into false overtime slips signed by a friend of Maddrey who worked in his office.

Back in 2021, Veneziano investigated and disciplined an anonymous inspector — simply called “P” in the filing — after he was found guilty of logging hours he never worked, and “P” was forced to retire from the force.

Once Maddrey became Chief of Department in 2022, the suit lays out, Saraceno got his job back, was promoted to Deputy Chief of Department, and “signed falsified overtime slips for other officers working in the Chief of Department’s office.”

But Veneziano was not the only one paying attention to Maddrey’s office.

His suit notes that Brooklyn and federal prosecutors were looking into a notorious incident — when Maddrey interfered with the arrest of a retired NYPD pal — and, as per his job description, he fully cooperated as they sought records and other documents.

This “incensed Maddrey,” according to the suit.

“Veneziano was told by a senior member of the Police Commissioner’s office that Maddrey wanted Veneziano gone,” the suit states, “and that Maddrey did not want Veneziano in a position to testify against him.”

For a time, former NYPD commish Keechant Sewell “protected” him from “Maddrey’s retaliation.”

But just a month after Sewell resigned in June 2023 and was replaced by Adams pal Caban, he was given a demotion to the “inferior” Transit Bureau and resigned a month later — a scheme that Veneziano says Adams gave his “explicit and tacit approval of.”

Unlike Veneziano, Saraceno remained in the office until this past April when he was finally ousted because of the same sex-for-overtime scandal that sank Maddery, giving his paramour $403,515 in OT last year. 

Another of the explosive lawsuits accuses other Adams allies not named in the other filings, including former Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and longtime pal Phil Banks.

Banks and Maddrey “wanted to bypass the official method” of promoting detectives into the elite Criminal Task Force Divisions — a team responsible for partnering with federal investigations within the city, claims the suit filed by the former Assistant Chief in charge of the CTFD, Christopher McCormack.

The 34-year NYPD veteran says that Banks, Maddrey and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry forced through roughly 12 “unqualified” and “unvetted” candidates over McCormack’s objections.

Federal officials working with the CFTD complained to McCormack about the “alarming influx” of unqualified detectives, the suit states.

One egregious referral from Banks for the elite money laundering task force, known as “El Dorado,” lacked a basic financial background and had a criminal history — meaning he could never testify at a trial.

When asked why he chose the unit, he “responded simply that the name of the unit ‘sounded cool,’” the suit alleges.

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A top chief tasked with overseeing compliance with standards — and as a liaison to the court-ordered federal monitor — claimed that Maddrey and then Chief of Patrol John Chell ignored his concerns over their “enthusiasm for unrestricted police pursuits.” 

The practice was halted by current police commish Jessica Tisch in January after over 300 people were injured during chases in 2024 alone — including at least 13 deaths in the past two years, according to THE CITY.

In that same lawsuit, the former chief Matthew Pontillo alleges that he performed an audit of body camera abuse by the “elite” Community Response Team, a unit frequently promoted by Mayor Adams as integral to his promise to address quality of life issues.

And like the other litigants, Pontillo’s criticisms resulted in an impossible offer of either a mega-demotion or resignation — “essentially effective termination,” said his attorney.

“I’ve never seen this under any previous administration — it’s only under Adams’ reign,” said the attorney for the former officials, Sarena Townsend, who served as a Brooklyn prosecutor for a decade, and spent six years working as a Deputy Commissioner at internal affairs at Rikers Island.

“My clients were amongst the highest ranked members of NYPD, each of whom gave between 30 and 40 unblemished years to our great city, only to be pushed out by a Mayor who chose nepotism and retaliation over safety and merit,” Townsend said. 

“This isn’t about a new administration bringing their people in,” she told The Post, “they weren’t let go at the beginning. It was only because of their whistleblowing activity that they were retaliated against.”

City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak told The Post that “the Adams administration holds our top brass at the NYPD to the highest standards,” and noted that they would “review” the lawsuits.

Lawyers for Caban said that the claims lacked merit. The suits included “unsupported and reckless suggestion that former Commissioner Caban accepted anything of value in connection with promotions,” said Cooley LLP partners Russell Capone and Rebekah Donaleski. 

“Former Commissioner Caban will vigorously defend against these claims and is evaluating all available legal options in response,” the lawyers said.

Republican and perennial mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa was quick to react, claiming that Adams has run the NYPD “more like a mafia outfit than the professional department New Yorkers expect.” 

“Promotions for sale, investigators punished, honest officers pushed out,” Sliwa said. “This is par for the course with Adams. If you don’t do his bidding, you’re out.”

The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.