Adams, de Blasio accepted campaign cash from Brooklyn man charged in bank fraud scheme
A Brooklyn businessman recently charged in a sprawling bank-fraud scheme gave political contributions to Mayor de Blasio and Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams, public records show.
David Motovich, who manages Midwood Lumber & Millwork Inc., is facing federal bank fraud, identity theft and witness tampering charges over a $55 million check-cashing operation that Jacquelyn Kasulis, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, said last Tuesday “deliberately flouted federal banking and anti-money laundering laws.”
Motovich, 46, has donated to the campaigns of de Blasio and Adams over the years, as well as disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner.
In 2003, he made a $1,500 donation to de Blasio’s City Council campaign, listing himself at the time as the lumber company’s CEO, city campaign finance records show. Two years later
he gave to Weiner, listing himself as the company’s vice president.
He gave to de Blasio again in 2017 for his mayoral reelection bid, contributing $1,000 that time and listing himself as the company’s CFO.
More recently, he and his family gave to Adams. In 2019, Motovich sent $1,000 to the Brooklyn borough president for his mayoral run this year. His wife Lyudmila gave $3,600 to Adams’ run, $1,600 of which was refunded, presumably because of campaign finance limits.
Adams, who is facing off against Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in this November’s general election, is almost certain to become New York City’s mayor because of the city’s overwhelmingly Democratic majority.
Motovich’s family appears to have given to other political causes as well.
A woman named Gail Motovich, who’s listed in campaign finance records as the “controller” for Midwood Lumber, has also been generous with campaign cash. She donated $1,800 to the failed City Council bid of Harold “Heshy” Tischler, a lightning rod for controversy in Brooklyn ever since he sicced an angry mob on a journalist.
Adams and Motovich’s connection appears to precede the donations to the Brooklyn borough president’s mayoral bid.
In 2017, two years before Adams received donations from Motovich and his wife, the borough president praised Motovich’s lumberyard for a $5,000 donation to a Bedford Stuyvesant synagogue after a fire devastated the historic house of worship.
“As #Hanukkah begins, I joined #BedStuy’s Congregation B’Nai Adath Kol Beth Yisrael as we pursue the #miracle of rebuilding their synagogue from a devastating fire last month,” he tweeted on Dec. 13, 2017. “Thanks to all who are contributing support, including @HomeDepot, Express Lumber, and Midwood Lumber.”
According to a report in Brownstoner, Adams “helped arrange” those donations.
Adams’ campaign spokesman Evan Thies said Adams “is going to return the money.”
“This is the first we’ve heard of this,” Thies said.
The U.S. Attorney’s charges against Motovich stem from a scheme the feds allege involved an illegal check-cashing operation Motovich ran out of the family-run lumber yard. According to the criminal complaint, Motovich cashed millions of dollars worth of checks from contractors who wanted to avoid state and federal taxes by paying their workers in cash. In exchange, Motovich allegedly extracted fees for cashing the checks between 4% and 10% of their value.
The checks that went to Motovich and the shell companies he controlled totaled $55 million — money he used to pay for diamonds, luxury cars and life insurance policies, the feds allege. Motovich also is accused of trying to keep witnesses to the scheme quiet.
Motovich did not respond to messages. In court papers filed Thursday, his lawyer Jeremy Gutman claimed Motovich has been aware of the government’s probe since the beginning of 2019. On Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann denied his release on a $75 million bond package.
City records show his lumber company pulled income from city coffers as well. Midwood Lumber has had more than two dozen contracts with the city Department of Education, amounting to $7,367 and spannig 2017 to July of this year — all of them during de Blasio’s administration.
The only other contract listed on the city’s Checkbook NYC database dates back to 2011 and was with Brooklyn’s Community Board 12 for $1,350, preceding de Blasio’s time as mayor.
A spokesperson for de Blasio said the campaign committees to which Motovich donated have been shuttered for years, and declined to comment further on the matter.
