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Federal prosecutors are investigating whether a New York City Council member and her sister, a top aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul, accepted bribes or kickbacks tied to city funding steered to a migrant shelter provider, according to a search warrant obtained by The Associated Press.
The March 19 warrant seeks evidence of possible criminal conduct involving Councilmember Farah Louis, a Brooklyn Democrat; her sister, Debbie Louis, Hochul’s assistant secretary for New York City intergovernmental affairs; and Edu Hermelyn, husband of Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
A spokesperson for Hochul said Debbie Louis was placed on leave last week after the governor became aware of the federal corruption probe. Someone answering a phone number associated with Louis ended the call when asked by the AP about the investigation, and the AP reported messages left for Farah Louis and Hermelyn were not returned.
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New York City Council Member Farah Louis is reportedly under federal investigation for an alleged bribery scheme. (Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy Of Music)
According to the warrant, investigators are examining whether the three received benefits in exchange for actions taken on behalf of BHRAGS Home Care Inc., a Brooklyn nonprofit that historically provided in-home care for sick and elderly clients.
As New York City’s migrant influx intensified in 2022, BHRAGS broadened its work to include emergency shelter operations for asylum seekers and other homeless services. Since then, public records show the group has been awarded more than a dozen contracts worth upward of $200 million from the city’s Department of Homeless Services.
“This is political persecution driven by the far-right, targeting immigrants and the leaders who stand with them,” a political insider tied to Rodneyse Bichotte…
