WASHINGTON (TNND) — New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist, allegedly accepted nearly $13,000 in foreign donations, an illegal act as only United States citizens or permanent legal residents are allowed to make contributions to political campaigns under federal law.
The New York Post reported the allegation Sunday.
Candidates who receive donations from foreigners must return the proceeds, and they can face expensive finds and even criminal charges for knowingly accepting foreign donations.
There were 54,000 contributions made to Mamdani’s campaign according to the report.
The Post reports at least 170 of these contributions have been traced to donors residing outside of the United States, including a donation from Mamdani’s mother-in-law, Dr. Bariah Dardari, who resides in Dubai, according to a records review by the NYC Campaign Finance Board.
Dardari’s $500 donation to her son-in-law’s campaign was quickly returned, and so were dozens of other donations.
However, there are still 88 foreign donors — valued at a total of $7,190 — which have yet to be returned, the New York Post reported.
On Saturday, Mamdani’s campaign issued a statement after receiving a detailed breakdown of the 88 foreign donations that still need to be returned, saying “we will of course return any donations that are not in compliance with CFB law.”
The biggest foreign donations came from Ada Diaz Ahmed, an investor from Dubai and James Furland, an environmental scientist in Australia. They both donated $2,100 to Mamdani’s campaign. Majority of the foreign donations came from university professors, doctors, students and tech professionals.
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa first raised concerns that Mamdani’s campaign was receiving illegal foreign donations through super PACS during an interview with Fox Business. He called on the Justice Department to open an investigation into Mamdani.
“It’s very problematic, not just for Zohran Mamdani, but anybody who has these kinds of PACs, because it’s a license to illegally funnel money,” Sliwa told The Post upon hearing of Mamdani’s acceptance of foreign donations. “And foreign countries know you don’t have to go to war against America. All you gotta do is manipulate the election.”
With just weeks away before the mayoral election, Mamdani’s campaign has nearly $6.1 million in hand. He has raised $4 million in private donations and $12.7 million in public matching funds. In just the past few weeks, he’s raised $1.05 million; meanwhile, opponent Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani in the primary race, has raised $507,000.
