Mamdani Campaign's $2.1 Million PAC Funds Reportedly Surpass Private Donations by $300,000 Amid Allegations of Record Alteration

New York, NY – Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani's mayoral campaign is facing serious allegations of financial manipulation, including claims that over $2 million in PAC funding, some from Silicon Valley, was misrepresented as "grassroots" donations. Forensic accountant Sam E. Antar, known for his work exposing white-collar fraud, asserts that PAC money received by the campaign exceeded its private donor fundraising by approximately $300,000. These accusations also detail the alleged alteration of official campaign finance records and subsequent legal threats aimed at silencing the investigation.

Antar, a former CFO of Crazy Eddie who pleaded guilty to securities fraud in the 1980s and now advises on fraud investigations, outlined his findings in a recent social media post. He stated that "$2.1M in elite PAC money" was "rebranded as 'grassroots'," and that "$1.6M in bundled donations vanished, then reappeared with changed attribution." He further alleged that campaign records were "altered twice within hours" and that "$7M in taxpayer matching funds" were triggered by the same bundler scheme.

The Mamdani campaign and the NYC Campaign Finance Board (CFB) have attributed these discrepancies to clerical errors or system glitches. Politico's Jeff Coltin reported that the campaign stated an intermediary, Jerrod MacFarlane, initially credited with bundling over $1.6 million, actually only raised about $6,000 due to a "data entry error." A CFB staffer reportedly confirmed a "glitch in our system" that was subsequently fixed.

However, Antar countered that the timing of these "corrections" coincided precisely with media outreach following his initial exposé, suggesting "premeditated narrative control." He highlighted that the campaign's shift from "zero organic donations" to claiming "$1.6 million in 'no intermediary' donations" overnight was a "fundamental rewriting of the campaign’s financial narrative."

The controversy escalated when Victoria Perrone, the Mamdani campaign's treasurer and head of its $82,000 compliance firm, publicly engaged with Antar on social media. Antar stated that Perrone issued a "defamation threat" against him and a journalist who amplified his findings, accusing the campaign of attempting to "silence the reporting" rather than address the factual discrepancies. Mamdani's campaign successfully secured the maximum public matching funds, contributing to its reported total of nearly $8.2 million, significantly more than other mayoral candidates.