Adams was treated to over $123K in travel perks over five years that he did not disclose: indictment

Party-loving, jet-setting Mayor Eric Adams lived the high life while allegedly raking in Turkish graft — getting treated to more than $123,000 worth of travel perks, prosecutors said.

Adams failed to disclose six luxurious, paid-for trips spread over five years as legally required on annual financial disclosures, according to a sprawling 57-page indictment unveiled Thursday.

The trips aren’t out of character for the self-declared “swagger” mayor who’s a fixture at New York City nightlife hotspots.

But the feds contend Adams starting in 2016 illegally accepted the lavish travel arrangements — which he allegedly did not disclose — from wealthy foreign businessmen and at least one Turkish government official looking for favors from the up-and-coming pol.

Business class flights, opulent hotel rooms, free meals at high-end restaurants and luxurious entertainment — either free or heavily discounted — were all on the menu during Adams’ travels his foreign fixers set up while flying on Turkish airlines, the indictment details.

One summer 2017 trip for Adams, a relative and a close staffer who served as his “liaison to the Asian-American communities in New York” boasted an enviable itinerary: Nice, France; Istanbul, Turkey; Columbo, Sri Lanka; and Beijing, China, according to court papers.

The business class flights for the trio were worth a jaw-dropping $35,000 and they all also received “a heavily discounted stay” at the St. Regis Istanbul hotel for two nights — where Adams stayed in the “Bentley Suite,” the filing claims.

The ritzy suite would have cost roughly $7,000 for both nights but Adams paid less than $600, the indictment claims.

The deal with Turkish Airlines was so cushy that Adams even flew them when it was inconvenient, court papers contend.

During the France trip, his longtime partner Tracey Collins was surprised to learn he was in Istanbul for a flight from New York to France in 2017, the indictment states.

“Transferring here,” he texted his partner, according to the documents. “You know the stop is always instanbul (sic).”

At another point, Adams repeatedly pushed Collins, who was planning a trip to Easter Island, to see if Turkish Airlines could be used, the court papers contend.

Adams even required his to call the airline to “confirm that they did not have routes between New York and Chile,” the documents state.

Adams, then Brooklyn’s borough president, allegedly started accepting the perks during October 2016, when he and Collins took a trip to India on Turkish Airlines.

He bought two economy class tickets for the duo that cost $2,286, but two days before takeoff they were upgraded to business class tickets — were worth roughly $15,000 — for free, the court papers allege.

The trip kicked off a years-long pattern of travel, where free perks were assumed, the feds contend.

During one ultimately canceled planned trip to Istanbul, an Adams staffer who helped arrange travel momentarily balked at a Turkish Airlines manager’s suggestion that the pol stay at the Four Seasons hotel.

“It’s too expensive,” the staffer wrote, according to the indictment.

“Why does he care? He is not going to pay,” the manager wrote back, court papers state.

The canceled trip would have been swanky — Adams and his partner would have bedded at the Four Seasons, embarked on a yacht tour, stayed three days at a posh resort and been supplied with a car and driver, according to the indictment.

Adams only paid $1,100 for each international flight and was only set to pay “a nominal price of $720” for the rest of the trip — which would have cost over $8,500, the indictment states.

A fundraiser for Adams ultimately went on the trip to Turkey instead the next day and was treated to “transportation from the airport, a free hotel, and free use of a VIP room in the Turkish Airline’s business class lounge,” the indictment states.

Other trips detailed in the indictment show that Adams didn’t miss out on fringe benefits during other trips.

Adams and his liaison went to Nepal during 2017 through Istanbul and Beijing on free business class tickets worth over $16,000 on the Turkish Airline, the feds allege in the court papers.

Adams only paid $1,100 for each international flight and was only set to pay “a nominal price of $720” for the rest of the trip — which would have cost over $8,500, the indictment says.

The mayor and his partner then took a trip to Budapest, Hungary in January 2018 on a free upgrade to business class flights worth $14,000, the indictment alleges.

His partner originally bought the economy tickets for $560 a pop but in December 2017, Adams’ staffer asked for the free upgrade at his behest, the documents allege.

Adams took a trip to Istanbul again in 2019 for the purpose of “raising campaign contributions illegally in Turkey” and was comped an upgrade to business class on that flight.

On that trip he asked for and accepted, “free hotel stays, dinners, and a boat trip” as well as a “free two-night stay in the Cosmopolitan Suite of the St. Regis,” worth $3,000, the indictment says, including photos of the posh suite.

He also received perks including a “car and driver, a boat tour to Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara, a Turkish bath at a seaside hotel, and at least one meal at a high-end restaurant,” the indictment claimed.

The final trip detailed in the indictment originally started as a planned trip to Pakistan, for which Adams purchased two roundtrip economy class tickets on Turkish Airlines $1,436, according to the indictment.

A staffer for Adams asked whether he was still intending to travel there and whether she should have his “tickets upgraded to business class.”

Four days before the trip to Pakistan, Adams asked for his destination to be changed to Ghana — which they did so at no extra cost. 

Turkish officials reassured an Adams staffer that they’d “take care of the layover in Istanbul” including providing a BMW 7 with a driver and dinner at a high-end restaurant where he met with a Turkish official, the documents state. No photos were allowed at the dinner.

During the nine-hour layover he was also treated to drinks at a separate location, before boarding his business class flight to Ghana. He passed on the offered Bosporus Strait cruise, explaining he had “done the boat tour a few times,” according to the indictment.

The Adams staffer stressed there be “no media attention, including social media” during this layover, court papers state.

Once in Ghana, the mayor pushed for media coverage in “stark contrast” of the Istanbul layover, the indictment states.

After the layover, a Turkish official texted an Adams staffer: “Is Eric happy then?”

“He is very happy,” the staffer texted back, according to the indictment.