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On March 19, a warrant was issued as part of an investigation into potential criminal activities involving Councilmember Farah Louis, a Democrat from Brooklyn, and Debbie Louis, who is the assistant secretary for New York City intergovernmental affairs under Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration.
The investigation also includes Edu Hermelyn, the spouse of state Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who is the chairperson of the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
Following the revelation of the federal corruption probe, a spokesperson for Governor Hochul confirmed that Debbie Louis was placed on administrative leave last week. Efforts to reach Louis for a comment were unsuccessful as a call to her listed number was abruptly disconnected when inquiries about the investigation were made.
Attempts to contact Farah Louis and Edu Hermelyn for their comments went unanswered, with voicemail messages not being returned.
The warrant, related to a phone linked to the case, indicates that prosecutors are investigating whether these individuals received any benefits in return for actions taken to support BHRAGS Home Care Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Brooklyn that offers home care services to sick and elderly individuals.
In 2022, as an influx of asylum seekers began arriving in the city, the nonprofit expanded its mission to include emergency shelters for migrants and other homeless services. Records show they have since received more than a dozen contracts, totaling over $200 million, from the Department of Homeless Services.
An attorney for the executive director of BHRAGS, Roberto Samedy, declined to comment.
The warrant also seeks records of money transfers and communications between the officials and Edouardo St. Fort, a former New York Police Department sergeant who retired in 2023
The same year, records show his security company, Fort NYC Security, received a $3 million contract from the Department of Homeless Services. An email and voice message left with St. Fort was not returned.
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn declined to comment.
The existence of a search warrant doesn’t necessarily indicate that prosecutors plan to bring criminal charges, only that investigators persuaded a magistrate judge to allow them to dig deeper and seize evidence.
As the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants overwhelmed New York City’s shelter system, the city’s former mayor, Eric Adams, oversaw the rapid roll out of a new emergency shelter network, inking lucrative contacts with service providers. Some of those contracts have come under scrutiny from financial watchdogs and critics of Adams.
Adams, a Democrat, was later indicted on unrelated federal charges of accepting bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources while he was Brooklyn’s borough president. Those charges were ultimately dropped by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department, which said the criminal case was distracting Adams from assisting with the president’s immigration crackdown.
Both the Louis sisters and Heremlyn are prominent fixtures within Brooklyn’s Democratic county committee, which has also faced a barrage of scandals in recent years.
Hermelyn briefly served as a senior advisor to Adams, but resigned over questions about whether his position as a Brooklyn district leader violated rules forbidding dual government roles.
He later advised Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his failed mayoral bid.