NEW YORK (AP) — Federal authorities have arrested four people in connection with an investigation into a Brooklyn nonprofit that received lucrative city contracts to open homeless shelters in New York City, a person familiar with the investigation confirmed to The Associated Press.
Investigators are also examining whether City Council Member Farah Louis and her sister Debbie Louis, an aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, accepted bribes or kickbacks
related to the appropriation of city funds to the nonprofit, according to a search warrant viewed by The Associated Press.
The sisters were not among those arrested Tuesday.
The nonprofit, BHRAGS Home Care Corp., has received around $200 million in city contracts to operate homeless shelters since 2022, including some emergency facilities that were opened in response to an influx of migrants.
Among those arrested Tuesday were BHRAGS President Jean Ronald Tirelus and its executive director, Roberto Samedy, according to the official, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Edouardo St. Fort, a retired New York City police sergeant who ran a security company linked to BHRAGS, is also in custody in Massachusetts, records show. A fourth vendor, Miguel Jorge, was in custody Tuesday, the official said.
An attorney listed for St. Fort did not return a request for comment. Samedy’s attorney declined to comment. Information about attorneys for the other two men was not immediately available.
All four were named in the search warrant, signed March 19, seeking information about and communications between BHRAGS, and Farah and Debbie Louis.
Debbie Louis has been placed on leave, the governor’s office said.
According to St. Fort’s arrest warrant, he is under indictment on charges of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, bribery involving programs receiving federal funds, and violating a law prohibiting interstate travel for unlawful activities.
A security company run by St. Fort, Fort NYC Security, worked as a subcontractor for BHRAGS. Since 2023, the city has agreed to pay more than $7 million to Fort NYC Security to provide security services at homeless shelters.
Records from the city comptroller’s office show that five of the six contracts awarded to Fort NYC Security were done so on an emergency basis, meaning the city did not have to solicit bids and award them to the lowest responsible bidder.
According to the search warrant, prosecutors are seeking information about whether the Louis sisters and a third individual, Edu Hermelyn, received benefits in exchange for actions taken on behalf of BHRAGS.
Edu Hermelyn is the husband of state Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who chairs the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
Messages left for Farah Louis, Debbie Louis and Edu Hermelyn were not returned.
A spokesperson for the City Council said the legislative body “takes any potential misconduct extremely seriously.”
“New Yorkers deserve confidence in their government,” the spokesperson said. “It is essential that the federal investigation proceed fairly and expeditiously to bring this matter to a resolution.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn declined to comment.
The existence of a search warrant doesn’t necessarily indicate that prosecutors plan to bring criminal charges, only that investigators persuaded a magistrate judge to allow them to dig deeper and seize evidence.
