A wide-ranging Federal corruption investigation centered on two businessmen with ties to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is also examining some aspects of his campaign fund-raising.
The investigation, which in recent days has garnered attention because the focus on the two businessmen led Federal agents to interview roughly 20 senior New York Police Department officials, has for some time been examining the ways the businessmen wielded influence in New York City Government.
That examination has included an aggressive review of Mr. de Blasio’s campaign fund-raising. It was unclear what specific aspect of the mayor’s fund-raising was under scrutiny and how it related to the conduct of the two businessmen.
The two businessmen under scrutiny are Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg. Both served on a large committee that planned Mr. de Blasio’s inaugural celebration in 2014, and Mr. Rechnitz and his wife each contributed $4,950, the maximum amount allowed, to his 2013 campaign. Mr. Rechnitz also raised about $45,000 for him.
Dan Levitan, a spokesman for Mr. de Blasio’s campaign, said, “We are fully confident that the campaign has conducted itself legally and appropriately at all times.” The campaign is expected to return the contributions from Mr. Rechnitz and his wife.
Mr. Rechnitz owns a real estate investment, development and management company called JSR Capital L.L.C., which owns buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Mr. Reichberg hosted a 2014 fund-raiser for the Campaign for One New York, a nonprofit created by advisers to Mr. de Blasio in support of the Mayor’s agenda. The group, criticized by watchdog groups as a kind of “shadow government” of lobbyists at City Hall, began the process of closing down last month.
While the interviews of the police officials attracted far more attention, and led to discipline on Thursday against four senior department officials, the examination of the roles of the businessmen, according to several people briefed on the matter, and the Mayor’s fund-raising have been the central elements of the inquiry.
The office of Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, is conducting a broader inquiry along with the F.B.I., which includes the two businessmen, and police officials: the police force’s former Chief of Department, Philip Banks III, who was the top uniformed official before retiring in 2014; and Norman Seabrook. Mr. Seabrook heads the union that represents New York City Correction Officers and, along with Mr. Banks, was one of the original people whose financial dealings were examined by Federal investigators.
Monica Klein, a spokeswoman for Mr. de Blasio, said in a statement that he and Police Commissioner William J. Bratton were “both committed to ensuring that the N.Y.P.D. maintains the integrity and trust that the public expects from its Police Department.”
“The mayor is fully supportive of these investigations to learn the truth,” Ms. Klein added.
Mr. Bratton said on Thursday that the investigation was examining the “conduct of current and former N.Y.P.D. officers and several others.” The department also said that three deputy chiefs and a deputy inspector had been reassigned to desk jobs as discipline stemming from the investigation.
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