New York City Council Member And Hochul Staffer Targeted In Federal Probe, Report Says

NEW YORK — Federal authorities are investigating City Council Member Farah Louis, an aide to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and the husband of a state assemblymember as part of a probe into kickbacks and bribes, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Hochul’s office confirmed the investigation and that the governor’s staffer, Debbie Esther Louis, was placed on leave Wednesday after working for the governor for three years. She is the council member’s sister and, according to her LinkedIn profile, serves as the assistant secretary of intergovernmental affairs in New York City for the governor.

The investigation is linked to whether the Louis sisters were bribed in connection to city contracts for migrant shelters, according to the AP. Specifically, a search warrant sought information related to benefits the sisters received from BHRAGS Home Care, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that has received more than $200 million in city contracts to house migrants since 2022, the AP reported.

Edu Hermelyn, the husband of state Assemblymember and Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, was named in a search warrant connected to the probe, the wire service also reported. A spokesperson for Hermelyn and the Brooklyn Democratic Party declined to comment.

According to a person with direct knowledge of the matter who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, Edu Hermelyn has in recent years called several Council members directly to ask them to earmark money from their individual discretionary funding budgets to BHRAGS Home Care. It was unclear to the person who spoke to POLITICO if Edu Hermelyn has an official role with the shelter provider.

Farah Louis has herself provided significant amounts of discretionary funding to BHRAGS. Since taking office in mid-2019, the council member has allocated at least $71,000 in discretionary funding for the nonprofit, city records show.

Earlier this year, BHRAGS hired The Parkside Group, a major government relations firm, to start lobbying council members, including Louis, for funding increases, according to disclosures.

A person who picked up the phone at BHRAGS' office late Monday said no one was available to answer questions about the investigation. Farah Louis, who’s the chair of the Council’s Zoning Subcommittee, did not return calls.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which covers Brooklyn, did not comment.

Henry Robins, a spokesperson for Council Speaker Julie Menin, did not say whether Louis’ committee assignments could be impacted by the news of the federal inquiry, but added “the Council takes any potential misconduct extremely seriously.”

“New Yorkers deserve confidence in their government,” Robins said. “It is essential that the federal investigation proceed fairly and expeditiously to bring this matter to a resolution.”

The development comes as Hochul is running for a second full term this year. She has enjoyed a comfortable lead in public polls over her likely Republican opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

Esther Louis is not the first Hochul aide to draw legal scrutiny. Linda Sun, a former adviser to Hochul and her predecessor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was arrested in September 2024 and accused by federal prosecutors of being an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government in exchange for financial rewards. The Hochul administration had previously fired Sun after discovering potential misconduct. Sun’s federal case ended in a mistrial late last year.

Erica Orden contributed to this report.