New York City Council Member Farah Louis and her sister, Debbie Louis, a top aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, are under federal investigation for allegedly receiving kickbacks from city contracts awarded to a migrant shelter firm.
BHRAGS Home Care Inc. has received over $200 million in taxpayer-funded city contracts since shifting from an in-home medical care facility to an emergency migrant shelter in 2022.
Debbie Louis, who serves as Hochul’s assistant secretary for NYC governmental affairs, has been placed on leave.
A spokesperson for the City Council told CBS that the council takes allegations of potential misconduct “extremely seriously.”
“New Yorkers deserve confidence in their government,” the spokesperson told CBS, adding that the federal investigation must “proceed fairly and expeditiously” to bring this matter to a resolution.”
Edu Hermelyn, the husband of New York State Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, is also under investigation.
A source close to Hermelyn, however, refuted the investigation in a statement to the New York Post, claiming that this is an incident of “far-right” political “persecution.”
“This is political persecution driven by the far-right, targeting immigrants and the leaders who stand with them,” the insider said. “There are no charges at this time, and the facts will ultimately lead to this case being dropped on its merits.”
Previously, Hermelyn resigned from his advisory role with former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, before working as an adviser to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2025 mayoral campaign.
If found guilty, Hermelyn and the Louis sisters would not be the first New York public servants to violate ethics codes and break the public’s trust under the Hochul administration.
In 2024, Linda Sun was arrested and charged by the Department of Justice for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering.
The charges were brought up after the department accused her of using her high-ranking positions to serve the interests of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party in exchange for millions of dollars.
Her husband, Chris Hu, was also arrested and charged.