Within the two years earlier than FBI brokers raided her properties, Winnie Greco, Mayor Adams’ longtime Asian affairs adviser, commonly met in her Metropolis Corridor capability with Chinese language authorities officers and members of teams funded by and supportive of China’s ruling Communist Occasion.
The never-before-disclosed conferences are taking up renewed significance because the federal investigation that prompted the February 2024 raids continues and is not less than partly scrutinizing Greco’s ties to China’s authorities, based on sources. No fees have been filed in that probe.
In addition to varied New World Mall appointments, the schedules reveal Greco, who resigned in October, met not less than 11 instances with Huang Ping, China’s New York consul common, together with attending a non-public dinner with him at his official Manhattan residence in 2023. The schedules, which span Greco’s complete tenure in Adams’ administration, don’t present her interacting as a lot with officers from every other overseas authorities.
One in every of Winnie Greco’s Bronx properties seen on Feb. 29, 2024. (Sheetal Banchariya for New York Day by day Information)
The Greco probe’s being led by Brooklyn U.S. Legal professional Breon Peace, who has lately prosecuted a number of high-profile instances associated to alleged Chinese language authorities affect operations.
That features Peace’s September indictment of Linda Solar, an ex-aide to Gov. Hochul, who’s accused of performing as a Chinese language agent to affect New York authorities operations on behalf of Beijing. Peace’s prosecutors allege Solar, who has pleaded not responsible, took orders and bribes from Huang, the Chinese language consul common who additionally met a number of instances with Greco and abruptly left his diplomatic put up in New York after Solar’s indictment.
The revelations about Greco, who labored and raised cash for Adams for years earlier than resigning, come as Peace’s probe of her continues.
A Peace spokesman declined to touch upon Greco’s schedules.
After indicting Solar, Peace mentioned in September his workplace would proceed to “act decisively to prosecute those who serve as undisclosed agents of a foreign government.”
China’s ‘United Front’
One other group that has drawn consideration from Peace is the Changle Affiliation, which made headlines final 12 months after his workplace indicted its chief and one other man on fees alleging they ran a covert Chinese language authorities police station out of the group’s Chinatown places of work to spy on Individuals.
One of many males, Chen Jinping, pleaded responsible final month to espionage fees over his position within the illicit police station, whereas the opposite, Changle Affiliation President Lu Jianwang, is continuous to struggle his case.
Greco’s schedules entries present she met with members of the Changle Affiliation on Sept. 26, 2022 at New World’s Royal Queen, a dim sum restaurant the place she had months earlier hosted the Adams marketing campaign fundraisers that raised straw donor issues.
It’s unclear from the September 2022 schedule entry which particular Changle members Greco met with.
New World Mall in Flushing. (Google Maps)
A number of of these teams, together with Changle, are related to China’s “United Front,” an arm of President Xi Jinping’s regime that makes use of group organizations internationally to “influence overseas Chinese communities, foreign governments, and other actors to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing’s preferred policies,” based on a 2018 examine by the U.S.-China Financial and Safety Assessment Fee.
Xi has referred to as the United Entrance his “secret weapon,” and the examine says many abroad teams related to its operations obtain funding from China’s ruling Communist Occasion.
Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak mentioned final week she couldn’t touch upon what metropolis authorities functions there have been in Greco’s varied conferences at New World since “she’s no longer an employee here.”
It’s beforehand recognized that Greco had ties to Chinese language authorities teams earlier than becoming a member of Adams’ administration, together with by serving as a “consultant” to Beijing-funded organizations.
New World Mall in Flushing. (Google Maps)
But it surely hasn’t earlier than been reported she commonly interacted with many such teams after becoming a member of Adams’ administration, a element that’s coming to gentle because the mayor stays beneath federal indictment on fees alleging he took bribes and unlawful marketing campaign money from Turkish authorities operatives in change for political favors.
Adams, who has pleaded not responsible, usually says it’s necessary for his group to develop ties with ethnic group teams within the metropolis, whilst a few of these connections have stoked controversy.
Publish-raid conferences
Instantly after the Feb. 29, 2024 raids at her properties and the mall, Greco’s schedule entries present she stored going to New World, visiting it 5 instances in 9 days.
A type of visits, on March 2, was to fulfill with the Wen Chow Affiliation, an affiliate of the Alliance of Asian American Pals, a neighborhood umbrella group supportive of China’s Communist Occasion that watchdog group Affect Watch has recognized as a United Entrance entity. One other go to Greco made on March 6 was to attend a gala for the American Fujian Affiliation, additionally thought-about a neighborhood pro-Communist Occasion group.
These visits got here despite the fact that Adams’ workplace mentioned on the time Greco went on paid go away instantly following the raids resulting from a medical episode she suffered when brokers burst into her properties that required hospitalization.
Mayor Adams and Winnie Greco seen on the twelfth China Day Competition on Oct. 1, 2023. (Violet Mendelsund / NYC Mayor’s Workplace)
After the 5 post-raid mall appointments, Greco’s schedules went nearly totally empty, and stayed that method even after she formally got here again to work in early Might at a $196,267 wage.
In actual fact, moreover a weekly digital “AAPI team” confab, the ultimate entry on Greco’s schedules was a non-public Might 23 assembly at Metropolis Corridor with Adams and Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng, deputy secretary of the Chinese language Communist Occasion’s Shanghai Committee. After that sit-down, the one schedule entries for Greco’s remaining 5 months at Metropolis Corridor have been weekly AAPI group meets.
Mamelak, Adams’ spokeswoman, mentioned Greco labored as standard her closing months, however didn’t elaborate on why her schedules stayed principally empty. Mamelak mentioned she couldn’t touch upon Greco’s post-raid New World visits.
Crossing paths
One other outstanding United Entrance-tied outfit Greco met with in her Metropolis Corridor capability was the American Chinese language Commerce Affiliation, together with three sit-downs with the group over 5 days in June 2022, her schedules present.
The group’s chairman is John Chan, a former Chinatown gangster convicted of human trafficking and drug smuggling fees within the mid-2000s who has since turn out to be influential in New York politics.
Chan has been publicly supportive of President Xi and raised eyebrows final 12 months by attending the annual assembly in Beijing of the Chinese language Individuals’s Political Consultative Convention, the highest organ throughout the United Entrance framework. The FBI reportedly questioned Chan earlier than he left for that journey to China.
Greco and Chan collectively attended a number of conferences with Huang, China’s ex-consul common, and different Chinese language authorities officers. That included a Sept. 15, 2023 celebration of the 74th anniversary of the Chinese language revolution hosted at China’s embassy in Manhattan, the place each Chan and Huang delivered remarks, Greco’s schedules entries and pictures from the occasion present.
That occasion got here a number of days after Greco met with Huang and different Chinese language officers at a “Zang Zhou City Industry Promotion Conference” at Marriott Downtown on Aug. 22, 2023, her schedules present.
Most of Greco’s conferences with Huang came about at China’s twelfth Ave. embassy, which U.S. officers have accused of being a hub for espionage efforts. She additionally had the personal dinner with him at his Chinese language authorities residence on close by W. forty third St. on Oct. 22, 2023, her schedules present.
The primary time Greco met Huang in her Metropolis Corridor capability was in a extra casual setting, as she sat down with him for dinner at a Korean restaurant in Flushing in July 2022, her schedules present. The data present that dinner was additionally attended by Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’ ex-chief adviser who was lately indicted on corruption fees to which she has pleaded not responsible.
Winnie Greco at Gracie Mansion in February 2022. (Michael Appleton / NYC Mayor’s Workplace)
Different Chinese language authorities teams Greco met with included SinoVision, a Chinese language language TV community reportedly managed by Chinese language authorities authorities that closed completely in September.
Per her schedules, Greco attended a “VIP reception” at SinoVision’s Queens workplace on Jan. 27, 2024, a couple of month earlier than the raids.
On New Yr’s Eve 2023, her schedules present Greco additionally attended a “countdown event” in Instances Sq. hosted by the Sino-American Friendship Affiliation, a gaggle recognized for organizing journeys to China for U.S. officers and celebrities to fulfill United Entrance leaders.
