Within the two years earlier than FBI brokers raided her houses, Winnie Greco, Mayor Adams’ longtime Asian affairs adviser, repeatedly met in her Metropolis Corridor capability with Chinese language authorities officers and members of teams funded by and supportive of China’s ruling Communist Get together.
The never-before-disclosed conferences are taking over renewed significance because the federal investigation that prompted the February 2024 raids continues and is not less than partially scrutinizing Greco’s ties to China’s authorities, in accordance with sources. No expenses 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 occasions with Huang Ping, China’s New York consul common, together with attending a personal dinner with him at his official Manhattan residence in 2023. The schedules, which span Greco’s total tenure in Adams’ administration, don’t present her interacting as a lot with officers from some other international authorities.
One in all Winnie Greco’s Bronx houses seen on Feb. 29, 2024. (Sheetal Banchariya for New York Each day Information)
The Greco probe’s being led by Brooklyn U.S. Legal professional Breon Peace, who has just 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 appearing 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 occasions with Greco and abruptly left his diplomatic publish 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 stated 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 expenses alleging they ran a covert Chinese language authorities police station out of the group’s Chinatown workplaces to spy on People.
One of many males, Chen Jinping, pleaded responsible final month to espionage expenses over his function 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,” in accordance with a 2018 research by the U.S.-China Financial and Safety Assessment Fee.
Xi has known as the United Entrance his “secret weapon,” and the research says many abroad teams linked to its operations obtain funding from China’s ruling Communist Get together.
Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak stated 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 repeatedly interacted with many such teams after becoming a member of Adams’ administration, a element that’s coming to mild because the mayor stays below federal indictment on expenses alleging he took bribes and unlawful marketing campaign money from Turkish authorities operatives in trade for political favors.
Adams, who has pleaded not responsible, usually says it’s necessary for his workforce to develop ties with ethnic group teams within the metropolis, whilst a few of these connections have stoked controversy.
Submit-raid conferences
Instantly after the Feb. 29, 2024 raids at her houses and the mall, Greco’s schedule entries present she saved going to New World, visiting it 5 occasions in 9 days.
A kind of visits, on March 2, was to satisfy with the Wen Chow Affiliation, an affiliate of the Alliance of Asian American Associates, an area umbrella group supportive of China’s Communist Get together 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 an area pro-Communist Get together group.
These visits got here despite the fact that Adams’ workplace stated on the time Greco went on paid depart instantly following the raids on account of a medical episode she suffered when brokers burst into her houses 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 virtually completely empty, and stayed that manner even after she formally got here again to work in early Could at a $196,267 wage.
In actual fact, in addition to a weekly digital “AAPI team” confab, the ultimate entry on Greco’s schedules was a personal Could 23 assembly at Metropolis Corridor with Adams and Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng, deputy secretary of the Chinese language Communist Get together’s Shanghai Committee. After that sit-down, the one schedule entries for Greco’s remaining 5 months at Metropolis Corridor had been weekly AAPI workforce meets.
Mamelak, Adams’ spokeswoman, stated Greco labored as standard her closing months, however didn’t elaborate on why her schedules stayed largely empty. Mamelak stated 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 expenses within the mid-2000s who has since develop into 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 Folks’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 couple 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 just lately indicted on corruption expenses 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 few 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 bunch recognized for organizing journeys to China for U.S. officers and celebrities to satisfy United Entrance leaders.
