Winnie Greco, Top Eric Adams Aide, Back at Work After Being Sidelined by FBI Raid

A top aide to Mayor Eric Adams who went on leave after her two houses were raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in late February is back in a government job, THE CITY has learned.

Winnie Greco, whom Adams appointed as his Director of Asian Affairs at a salary of $100,000 in January 2022, was sidelined after the feds raided her homes in The Bronx and a mall in Queens where she had held numerous fundraisers for Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign.

At the time of the FBI raids on Feb. 28, an administration source told THE CITY that Greco was on medical leave after suffering a medical episode. That source added that, once recovered, Greco would go on unpaid leave after her vacation days were exhausted and that she would not be performing governmental work.

A City Hall source said Greco has been spotted since Friday at an office across from City Hall at 253 Broadway.

“She’s back,” the source told THE CITY. “Obviously, a lot of folks were like, ‘Woah!’”

THE CITY and Documented have previously reported that donors to Adams’ campaign who worked at the shopping center, the New World Mall in Flushing, said they were illegally reimbursed for their donations or that they had no knowledge of donations made in their names.

On Wednesday, a mayoral spokesperson said it was determined last week that Greco could return to work. The spokesperson said Greco was working under the “direct supervision” of the Commissioner of the Community Affairs Unit, Fred Kreizman, but did not respond to questions about Greco’s salary, title or duties.

Later, the spokesperson said another mayoral staffer who was put on leave after her home got raided by the FBI in early November, Rana Abbasova, had not returned to work. The spokesperson noted that all employee decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

In November, the FBI also raided the home of Adams’ chief political fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, and confiscated Adams’ cell phone and other electronic devices in a probe that reportedly centers on alleged illegal campaign donations that originated from Turkish nationals.

Even before the federal raid, Greco was already under investigation by the city’s Department of Investigation after reporting by THE CITY on allegations that she tried to benefit improperly from her government position.

A business executive told THE CITY that Greco allegedly solicited a $10,000 donation to a nonprofit she founded as a condition for attending an event at Gracie Mansion with the mayor.

A former Adams campaign volunteer also said Greco allegedly required him to perform unpaid renovation work at her primary Bronx home for two months as a condition for helping him land a government job.

After the volunteer got hired by the city government, Greco continued to seek his assistance on the renovations — including during hours when he was supposed to be doing his day job.

Greco is a longtime volunteer advisor to Adams, starting during his early days at Brooklyn Borough Hall in 2014.

She worked for Adams for eight years, never earning a government paycheck, and was also a prolific volunteer fundraiser for his political campaigns. That fundraising continued even after Greco landed a position in city government.

Greco also led Adams’ advocacy for a “Friendship Archway” to be donated from a district of Beijing, China to Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, at the same time she headed a nonprofit that was ostensibly created to pay for upkeep of the structure. The nonprofit helped fund at least one of the mayor’s trips to China.

Despite a decade of advocacy by Adams and Greco, the archway has not been built , and the nonprofit has lost its federal tax-exempt status after failing to file records with the IRS about the money that was raised and spent.

Additional reporting by Katie Honan .

THE CITY is a nonprofit newsroom that serves the people of New York. Sign up for our SCOOP newsletter and get exclusive stories, helpful tips, a guide to low-cost events, and everything you need to know to be a well-informed New Yorker. DONATE to THE CITY

The post Winnie Greco, Top Eric Adams Aide, Back at Work After Being Sidelined by FBI Raid appeared first on THE CITY - NYC News .