Lefty socialist and mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani’s campaign quietly took in nearly $13,000 in potentially illegal foreign donations — including one from his mother-in-law in Dubai, The Post has learned.
At least 170 of the nearly 54,000 contributions to the leading Democratic candidate’s campaign came from donors with addresses outside the United States, an examination of NYC Campaign Finance Board records found.
Only US citizens or permanent legal residents are allowed to contribute to political campaigns and political action committees under federal, state and city law, and candidates are expected to return any of the illegal donations. Violators who knowingly accept foreign donations could face hefty fines and imprisonment.
But so far, the campaign has failed to return 88 of the foreign donations worth a total of $7,190, records showed.
Mamdani’s campaign has brought in $4 million in private donations, scored another $12.7 million in public matching funds, and with less than a month to go before election day, has nearly $6.1 million in hand.
His campaign issued a statement Saturday saying “we will of course return any donations that are not in compliance with CFB law” after being provided a detailed breakdown of the 88 donations yet to be returned.
A campaign spokesperson, however, declined to clarify why so many foreign donations are still in Mamdani’s war chest.
The foreign donations have sparked criticism.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so I would be very concerned,” said Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, upon learning of the foreign money coming into Mamdani’s campaign. “There is probably a lot more in terms of foreign money.”
Two months ago, Sliwa, during an interview with Fox Business, called on the US Department of Justice to investigate his suspicions that Mamdani is being aided by difficult-to-trace “dark money” illegally being funneled into super PACs through foreign nationals.
“It’s very problematic, not just for Zohran Mamdani, but anybody who has these kinds of PACs, because it’s a license to illegally funnel money,” Sliwa told The Post. “And foreign countries know you don’t have to go to war against America. All you gotta do is manipulate the election.”
The Mamdani campaign has given back a paltry $5,608 — including a contribution from Bariah Dardari, the mother of Mamdani’s new bride Rama Duwaji.
Dardari gave $500 in January, listing an address of the hospital in Dubai where she works as a pediatrician, filings showed. The money was reported returned the same day.
Dardari did not return requests for comment.
Most of the foreign donations started coming in June in the lead-up to the Democratic primary, in which Mamdani scored an upset victory over New York City Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Tech professionals, doctors, university professors, students and retired teachers made up the bulk of the foreign contributions, with some pledging as little as $1 to the campaign of the Democratic socialist, and as much as $2,100, records showed.
Among the biggest donors was James Furlaud, an environmental scientist at Australia’s University of Tasmania, who pledged $2,100 to the campaign. Furlaud studies the effects of climate change on forests and how it could lead to fires, according to his published academic work. He did not return a request for comment.
Ada Diaz Ahmed, who is described as a Dubai-based investor, donated $2,100 to the campaign in September, records show.
Jun-Dai Bates Kobashigawa, a software developer who lives in Montreal, Canada, donated $250 to the campaign in July. Kobashigawa, who works for GoDaddy, grew up in San Francisco, and attended Bard College in Dutchess County. He did not return a request for comment.
Ugur Macit, who lives in the town of Muhlheim am Main in Germany, also donated $250 to the Mamdani campaign in August. Macit is a software engineer who studied computer science at the University of Dusseldorf, according to public records. He could not be reached for comment.
Ahmed Enbya, a physician in Calgary, Canada, donated $100 to the campaign in September, filings show. He could not be reached for comment.
Nupur Amin Marquardt, a US citizen who works as a consultant in Hamburg, Germany, donated $50 to Mamdani’s campaign in August. As a US citizen, her donation is permitted, according to the Federal Election Commission’s rules.
Even though she has no connection to New York City, she felt inspired to support the candidate, Marquardt said.
“It’s the only campaign I’ve seen that’s not trying to win by convincing a group of people to hate another group of people,” she told The Post Wednesday.
Most of the contributions to the socialist’s campaign have come from outside New York City, city filings revealed last month. The frontrunner took in a total of $1.05 million over the last several weeks — more than double the $507,000 raised by Cuomo.
The city’s Campaign Finance Board declined comment, saying it is in the process of auditing all campaigns this election cycle citywide.
The post Mamdani mayoral campaign took in $13,000 in illegal foreign donations, records show appeared first on New York Post.
