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<\/p>\nThe CEO of a telecommunications construction firm entangled in a federal influence-peddling investigation targeting two of Mayor Eric Adams\u2019 former top officials \u2014 David and Philip Banks \u2014 and their brother, Terence, was indicted Thursday on corporate fraud charges.<\/p>\n
Anthony Tepedino, CEO of Allstate Sales Group (ASG), was a client of Terence Banks\u2019 consulting firm, Pearl Alliance. Banks firm is the subject of an ongoing probe by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton\u2019s public corruption unit.<\/p>\n
The indictment announced by Clayton charging Tepedino with steering millions of dollars from his firm into shell companies he controlled noted that the alleged fraud scheme came to a sudden halt on Sept. 4, 2024 \u2014 the day the FBI seized the cell phones of Tepedino and \u201cothers.\u201d That same day, the FBI and city Department of Investigation (DOI) confiscated the phones of Terence, David and Phil Banks in a probe focusing on whether Terence won clients by promoting his connections to his siblings.<\/p>\n
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Prosecutors in Clayton\u2019s office in recent months have also questioned witnesses about Terence Banks\u2019 hiring by ASG.<\/p>\n
The indictment focuses exclusively on corporate fraud and does not mention any interaction with any government entity, but DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber is quoted in Clayton\u2019s press release. A DOI spokesperson declined to comment on the department\u2019s role in the Tepedino charges.<\/p>\n
As he began his term at City Hall in January 2022, Mayor Adams appointed David Banks schools chancellor and named Philip Banks as his deputy mayor for public safety. Terence Banks did not win a job on the Adams team but soon after formed Pearl Alliance, listed as a \u201cvalues driven government and community relations firm forging strategic partnerships between business and government.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not clear exactly what Terence Banks did for ASG, but Tepedino was quoted on Pearl\u2019s website stating: \u201cYour company needs a partner like Pearl Alliance to help you overcome obstacles leading to successful project execution like it did for Allstate Sales Group.\u201d The website was taken down shortly after the Banks\u2019 brothers\u2019 phones were seized by law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Over the summer, Manhattan federal prosecutors questioned Patricia Lynch, a veteran New York lobbyist who\u2019d been hired by ASG to lobby the Adams\u2019 administration on unspecified \u201ctechnology\u201d issues, according to a source familiar with the investigation. Prosecutors asked Lynch about Terry Banks, according to the source. Lynch said she\u2019d dropped ASG as a client after learning the firm had hired Terry Banks.<\/p>\n
On Thursday the case was unsealed and assigned to Manhattan federal judge Margaret Garnett, who immediately recused herself, apparently due to DOI\u2019s involvement. Garnett was DOI commissioner under Mayor Bill de Blasio and has stepped away from cases involving her former agency.<\/p>\n