Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged four people tied to a contractor that had provided homeless shelter services in New York City, part of a corruption investigation that people with knowledge of the matter say is also focused on a City Council member and the husband of the Brooklyn Democratic leader.
The four people charged — two former officials of the contracting company and two vendors, including a former New York police sergeant — were accused of bribery, accepting kickbacks, wire fraud, embezzlement and other crimes. The two company officials accepted over $1 million in bribes, prosecutors said.
The arrests followed the seizure in recent days of the cellphones of more than half a dozen people by the F.B.I. Those people included Councilwoman Farah Louis; her sister, Debbie Louis, who is an intergovernmental affairs aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul; and Edu Hermelyn, the husband of the Brooklyn Democratic Party chair, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, several of the people said.
No charges have been brought against the councilwoman, her sister or Mr. Hermelyn, a political consultant. The investigation, by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, the F.B.I. and the city’s Department of Investigation, was continuing.
Joseph Nocella Jr., the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said the defendants used their leadership positions to “loot public funds from an organization devoted to serving vulnerable New Yorkers.”
He added: “Rooting out corruption is a priority for our office, and we will hold accountable anyone who exploits charitable trust for private gain.”
The contractor, BHRAGS Home Care Inc., is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that offers in-home services to older or ailing people and has also ran homeless shelters. It has received more than $185 million in city contracts, records show.
The investigation, and a search warrant that disclosed some details of the inquiry, were first reported on Monday night by The Associated Press, which also disclosed one of the arrests on Tuesday morning.
The two former BHRAGS officials charged in the indictment were Roberto Samedy, 50, who had served as the firm’s executive director, and Jean Ronald Tirelus, 50, who had been the chairman of its board. The two vendors charged were former Sgt. Edouardo St. Fort, 47, and Miguel Jorge, 52. Both men were tied to companies that provided security to the shelters.
The indictment accuses Mr. Samedy and Mr. Tirelus of steering business to the two security companies from August 2020 to January 2024, while Mr. St. Fort and Mr. Jorge funneled bribes and kickbacks totaling more than $1 million to the BHRAGS officials, prosecutors said.
The crimes were said to have occurred as the ranks of the homeless were swelling in New York City, propelled by a surge in migrants coming from the southern border. The influx prompted city leaders to sign billions of dollars in no-bid contracts to comply with a legal mandate to provide housing to any who needed it.
Todd Spodek, who represents Mr. Tirelus, said his client categorically disputed the charges and looked forward to clearing his name at trial. Seth Zuckerman, a lawyer for Mr. Samedy, declined to comment. And lawyers for Mr. St. Fort, who was arrested in Massachusetts, and Mr. Jorge did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
BHRAGS, in a statement, said the company had been cooperating with the investigation.
“For more than 50 years, BHRAGS has served New Yorkers in need with integrity and the highest ethical standards, and we take the allegations against Mr. Samedy seriously,” the statement said, adding that the executive director had been placed on administrative leave and that another official had assumed his duties.
It was unclear what led the agencies conducting the investigation — the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, the F.B.I. and the Department of investigation — to focus on Farah Louis, Debbie Louis, Mr. Hermelyn and the others.
Kara Cumoletti, a spokeswoman for Ms. Hochul, confirmed that Debbie Louis had been placed on leave last Wednesday.
Farah Louis and Debbie Louis did not respond to requests for comments. Neither did Mr. Hermelyn and his wife, Ms. Bichotte Hermelyn, a state assemblywoman.
A City Council spokesman said that it took “any potential misconduct extremely seriously.”
“New Yorkers deserve confidence in their government,” said the spokesman, Jack Lobel. “It is essential that the federal investigation proceed fairly and expeditiously to bring this matter to a resolution.”
Democratic Party politics in Brooklyn has had a reputation as a wellspring of corruption for years, dating back to the days of Meade Esposito, a party boss who was convicted of influence peddling in 1988. More recently, former Mayor Eric Adams rose through the borough’s party machine, leaving office in December following a tenure tarnished by allegations of cronyism and corruption.
Mr. Adams was indicted in 2024 on federal charges of accepting bribes and illegal campaign contributions. A judge ultimately dropped those charges after the Justice Department said that the criminal case was distracting Mr. Adams from assisting in President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Mr. Hermelyn’s professional biography on the website of Mercury Public Affairs, the consultancy that counted him as a senior vice president, prominently noted his work for Mr. Adams.
“Edu was one of the first members of the Eric Adams for Mayor campaign, and served as an adviser for the campaign and City Hall transition,” the biography read.
By Tuesday morning, the web page had been taken down.
A representative for Mercury did not respond to requests for comment.
Santul Nerkar contributed reporting.
William K. Rashbaum is a Times reporter covering municipal and political corruption, the courts and broader law enforcement topics in New York.
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