Reported by Matthew Sedacca and Rich Calder
A co-owner of the Brooklyn construction company being scrutinized by the feds as part of a larger probe into Mayor Eric Adams’ fundraising has long flaunted a lavish, jet-setting lifestyle.
Erden Arkan, the globe-trotting 74-year-old owner of KSK Construction Group in Williamsburg, regularly posts dispatches with his wife Itir on social media from fancy locations around the world, including snapshots of their March vacation in Osaka, Japan; scenes of hot air balloons floating in the sky above Cappadocia, Turkey; and souvenir shanties on Greece’s Chios Island.
Law enforcement sources told The Post agents were looking for evidence that could show whether Hizzoner’s team conspired with KSK and the Turkish government to use “straw donors” to illegally funnel foreign cash into his campaign coffers in exchange for favors.
A straw donor is a person or company which illegally makes a donation with someone else’s money but using their own name to hide its source.
“The mayor of New York City is one of the most powerful people in the world. And they have a direct line to White House, leaders in Congress, and Wall Street…If you’re the Turkish government, that’s someone you want to be friends with to get ahead on the world stage,” said one Dem strategist.
Turkey-born Erden Arkan donated $1,500 to Adams’ campaign in 2021 and also held fundraiser that May which netted nearly another $70,000 towards the mayor’s war chest, records show.
Neither KSK, Arkan, Adams, Suggs or anyone else have been charged with any wrongdoing, and the mayor has tried to downplay the FBI raid — saying Friday he still has “full confidence” in the young political operative caught up in the possible foreign election interference.
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