New York City Councilwoman Farah Louis is under increasing scrutiny amid a federal public corruption investigation involving the state’s homeless shelters for migrants.
On Thursday, it was revealed that the federal investigators appeared to raid Farah Louis’s home last week, days before authorities on Tuesday arrested and charged four other individuals linked to Bhrags Home Care, a nonprofit group the city’s Department of Homeless Services has paid nearly $200 million in contracts since 2022. Farah and her sister, Debbie Louis, an aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), are suspected of accepting bribes in exchange for the appropriation of city funds to Bhrags.
The sisters’ mother, Vesta Louis, told Politico this week that federal investigators raided both of their homes in simultaneous operations on March 23, confiscating their cellphones and other electronics. She dismisses concerns that her daughters were involved in shady dealings in the city and state government.
“We are a Christian family, we don’t deal with monkey business,” she said. “We deal with church and God and our jobs.”
Hochul’s administration has already placed Debbie Louis on leave from her position as an assistant secretary of intergovernmental affairs amid the investigation. Council Speaker Julie Menin said she needs more information before making changes to Farah Louis’s committee assignments, according to the outlet.
“Based on the information we find out, we’ll take appropriate course of action at that time,” the speaker said.
Four individuals suspected of nefarious dealings involving Bhrags were charged and arrested on Tuesday in connection with the corruption investigation, including the company’s executive director, Roberto Samedy, and its former board chairman, Jean Ronald Tirelus.
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The pair pleaded not guilty to embezzling around $1.3 million from the nonprofit group, including more than $200,000 in kickbacks. Prosecutors said Samedy and Tirelus accepted the bribes from Miguel Jorge and Edouardo St. Fort in exchange for steering multimillion-dollar contracts to their businesses and bringing St. Fort on as a subvendor to provide shelter security. Comptroller’s records show Fort NYC Security is a subcontractor on two contracts worth nearly $34 million that the city awarded to Bhrags to manage shelters, according to local outlet the City.
St. Fort, a former New York City police sergeant who ran Fort NYC Security, did not enter a plea on Tuesday.