By Forum Staff
An indictment was unsealed Thursday in Brooklyn federal court charging Julio Medina, Christopher Dantzler and Weihong Hu with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, honest-services wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to violate the Travel Act and the use of a facility of interstate commerce in aid of commercial bribery, prosecutors said.
As alleged in the indictment, Medina founded and served as the executive director and Chief Executive Officer of a non-profit organization that, among other things, provided various reentry services to formerly incarcerated individuals (the “Organization”). In June 2020, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) contracted with the Organization to administer an emergency transitional housing program (the “Emergency Housing Program”), in partnership with local hotels and other businesses, to combat the spread of COVID-19 in City jails. The Organization subsequently entered into agreements with various hotels to operate as reentry hotels under the Emergency Housing Program. In total, between June 2020 and December 2023, the Organization received approximately $122 million in public funds from MOCJ to operate the Emergency Housing Program at these hotels.
Dantzler and Hu each operated or controlled businesses that received tens of millions of dollars in public funds from the Organization under the Emergency Housing Program. Dantzler’s company purported to provide security services at the reentry hotels but was not a licensed security company and did not, in fact, provide security services. Hu, a donor to Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign, operated or controlled two hotels in Queens that operated as reentry hotels under the Emergency Housing Program and was a member of a repurposed catering company that provided food services to formerly incarcerated individuals residing at reentry hotels under the Emergency Housing Program.
Medina solicited and accepted bribes and kickbacks from Dantzler and Hu in exchange for Medina providing business through the Organization to Dantzler’s and Hu’s respective businesses under the Emergency Housing Program. Among other bribes and kickbacks, Dantzler and Hu purchased Medina an approximately $1.3 million townhouse; Hu, through one of her businesses, financed a luxury vehicle for Medina valued at approximately $107,000; and Dantzler paid to purchase and renovate a house for Medina for approximately $750,000.
In total, Dantzler and Hu provided Medina with at least $2.5 million in U.S. currency and in-kind benefits in exchange for Medina steering approximately $51 million in public funds from the Emergency Housing Program to Dantzler’s and Hu’s businesses. In turn, Dantzler’s security company received approximately $21 million in public funds from the Organization under the Emergency Housing Program, of which Dantzler personally retained approximately $9 million in public funds. Hu’s hotels received approximately $12 million in public funds from the Organization under the Emergency Housing Program, while her repurposed catering company received approximately $17 million in public funds.
“Shamefully, the defendants saw the pandemic as an opportunity to line their pockets with stacks of cash, finance a luxury vehicle, purchase homes and pay off personal debts,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney John Durham. “While New York City was trying to curb the spread of COVID-19, the defendants exploited a nonprofit organization to enrich themselves.”
