Eric Adams federal probe hones in on little-known Turkish businessman

• New York City Mayor Eric Adams' relationship with a little-known Turkish businessman is under the spotlight.
• Enver Yucel played a key role in the alleged scheme by Adams and his campaign to illegally raise money from foreign donors.
• Adams has said he's innocent.

Federal prosecutors have honed in on ties between New York City Mayor Eric Adams and little-known Turkish businessman Enver Yucel, CNBC has learned from the indictment and other public records, including campaign finance documents.

A federal indictment unsealed on Thursday describes a 2021 campaign fundraising scheme involving Adams, his team and a person only identified in the indictment as "Businessman-1." That man appears to be Yucel, the owner of a network of universities, including one in Turkey called Bahcesehir University and another based in Washington, D.C. named Bay Atlantic University.

Yucel is described within the indictment as a businessman who owns a university in Turkey which helped pay for Adams' visit to the country in 2015 while the mayor was still the Brooklyn borough president.

An August 2015 letter from New York's conflict of interest board approving the travel, lists Bahcesehir as the only university helping pay for the trip. The City reported that Adams met with Yucel in December 2015 as part of his second trip that year to the country.

Requests for comment through leaders of the two Yucel owned universities and an email to the address listed on Yucel's personal website were not returned. A spokesman for Adams referred CNBC to his personal attorneys who did not return requests for comment.

Adams has said he's innocent and did nothing wrong.

Still, Yucel appeared to play a key role in the alleged scheme by Adams and his campaign to illegally