A Brooklyn resident and former aide to ex-Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday was indicted for allegedly taking bribes and committing fraud while he was a City Hall official.
Anthony Herbert, 61, was charged with committing bribery, kickback and fraud offenses, according to United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton.
From in or about February 2022 through in or about September 2025, Herbert worked for the Office of the New York City Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit. In that capacity, Herbert first functioned as the Brooklyn Borough Director for Community Affairs from in or about February 2022 through in or about February 2023, and then as the Citywide Public Housing Liaison until in or about September 2025. In the latter role, he was responsible for engaging with residents and leadership of the New York City Housing Authority on behalf of City Hall, according to officials.
In the first scheme, Herbert, a Brooklyn resident, allegedly solicited and received from an executive from a security company thousands of dollars in cash payments in exchange for advising and pressuring other city officials to award the firm with city contracts, including providing services at NYCHA developments.
In the second scheme, Herbert allegedly advised, pressured and fraudulently induced other city officials to approve payments to a funeral home director under a financial assistance program for burial services for low-income families, in exchange for thousands of dollars in kickbacks from the proceeds of those reimbursement payments.
Finally, in or about April 2021, Herbert allegedly submitted a fraudulent loan application—on behalf of a fictitious baked goods company he claimed to operate—to induce a bank to issue him a $20,418 loan pursuant to the federal Paycheck Protection Program that was established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“New Yorkers deserve honest and competent public officials,” Clayton said in a statement. “As alleged, at a time when Anthony Herbert was serving as City Hall’s liaison to the city’s public housing residents, he engaged in blatant pay-to-play schemes to enrich himself. The women and men of the Southern District of New York are committed to holding accountable government officials who abuse their positions of trust to benefit themselves.”
