Brooklyn, NY – In a shocking turn of events, Erlene King, 71, was charged with wire fraud in connection with her attempt to steal funds from New York City’s Campaign Finance Board (CFB).
According to the indictment, King served as the campaign treasurer for a candidate who ran in a primary for the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President during the 2021 election cycle. King allegedly obtained fraudulent donations for the purpose of inducing the CFB to provide matching funds to the campaign.
The matching funds program, administered by the CFB, provides eligible candidates with public funds based on the number and amount of certain donor contributions. In the 2021 election cycle, candidates running for the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President were eligible to participate in the program if they met certain criteria, including collecting a minimum number of donations and raising a minimum amount of money from New York City residents.
Under the program, candidates received up to $8 in matching funds for each $1 of eligible contributions, up to $175 per contributor. In total, the matching funds program provided up to $1,457,777 in public matching funds to a candidate for the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President.
The CFB ultimately determined that the campaign submitted fictitious records and did not pay any public matching funds to the campaign. King faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section, with Assistant United States Attorneys Philip Pilmar and Eric Silverberg leading the prosecution.
KING, Erlene, a 71-year-old resident of Brooklyn, was charged with wire fraud in E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 24-CR-374 (CBA).
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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