New York Lt. Governor under Kathy Hochul arrested on bribery, fraud in campaign finance scheme

Update: In a statement issued by Governor Kathy Hochul, she announced that she has accepted Lt. Governor Brian Benjamin's resignation.

"I have accepted Brian Benjamin's resignation effective immediately. While the legal process plays out, it is clear to both of us that he cannot continue to serve as Lieutenant Governor. New Yorkers deserve absolute confidence in their government, and I will continue working every day to deliver for them," the statement reads.

On Tuesday, New York Lt. Governor Brian Benjamin was arrested and indicted for an alleged scheme to solicit campaign donations in exchange for a $50,000 state grant.

According to Fox News, Benjamin has been arrested and faces charges of bribery conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, and falsification of records, with the offenses carrying maximum penalties ranging between five and 20 years in prison.

Benjamin reportedly carried out the scheme between 2019 and 2021, while he was a state senator and candidate for state comptroller.

It was during this time that Benjamin conspired to direct the state grant funds to a Harlem real estate investor, in exchange for thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Benjamin’s comptroller campaign, which was unsuccessful, according to the New York Times.

The five-count indictment came as a result of an investigation by the F.B.I., U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and the city’s Department of Investigation.

The indictment alleged that Benjamin also “engaged in a series of lies and deceptions to cover up the scheme,” which included falsifying campaign donation forms, giving false information as part of a background check to become lieutenant governor last year, and misleading New York City authorities.

“In so doing, Benjamin abused his authority as a New York State senator, engaging in a bribery scheme using public funds for his own corrupt purposes,” prosecutors charged in the indictment.

According to the New York Times, the real estate investor was arrested on federal charges in November, and was charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, as well as other crimes related to his role in the scheme.

It was after his arrest that the investor, Gerald Migdol, began providing information to investigators regarding the scheme. Migdol is not addressed by name in the indictment, but rather by "CC-1," or co-conspirator 1.

Prosecutors said in Migdol’s indictment that in 2019, he began sending thousands of dollars of fraudulent contributions to Benjamin, just one month after he announced his run for comptroller.

Prosecutors accused him of sending straw donations made out in the name of individuals who had not consented to them, and of reimbursing people for their contributions.

According to the New York Times, a photo posted on Facebook in September of 2019 showed Migdol and Benjamin posing with a large cardboard check in the amount of $50,000 for the charity, Friends of Public School Harlem. At the time, Migdol was listed as president of the charity.

"It is unclear if the funds, which were earmarked as part of a discretionary state education fund, were ever actually delivered, but they represented one of the largest outside gifts ever directed to the small charity," the New York Times reported.

According to Fox News, prosecutors seeking forfeiture of the funds involved in the scheme, or "any other property of the defendant up to the value of the forfeitable property."

Benjamin will now, according to the New York Times, "almost certainly" face charges to step down.

This would not remove him from the ballot in June, where he faces two challengers. Because he was designated as the Democratic Party’s nominee for lieutenant governor, his name can be removed from the ballot only if he moves out of state, dies, or seeks a different office.

When pressed about the situation and whether she would continue to campaign with Benjamin at a news conference this morning held in regards to a subway shooting attack, Hochul said that a statement would be released later that day, and that she hasn't had the chance to speak with him yet.