Zohran Mamdani Under Fire For Rs 11 Lakh Illegal Foreign Donation: Report

Even though US election law prohibits candidates from accepting campaign funds from non-US citizens or residents, Zohran Mamdani's campaign reportedly received nearly $13,000 (approx. Rs 11 lakh) from foreign sources, including a contribution from his mother-in-law in Dubai.

NYC Campaign Finance Board records that Mamdani's campaign received around 54,000 contributions from people, and out of all the donations, about 170 came from people living outside the US, according to The NY Post.

Records show that Ada Diaz Ahmed, an investor living in Dubai, gave $2,100 (approx. Rs 1.74 lakh) to Mamdani's campaign in September.

Of the foreign donations Mamdani's campaign received, they have not returned 88 donations, which together add up to $7,190 (approx. Rs 6 lakh). After being shown a list, Mamdani's campaign issued a statement on Saturday saying they would return any donations that broke the rules.

"We will, of course, return any donations that are not in compliance with CFB law," it said.

Zohran Mamdani's mayoral campaign has raised significant funds, with Rs 33.2 crore coming from private donations and another Rs 105.4 crore in public matching funds, according to campaign records.

Despite spending on ads, events, and staff, the campaign still has about Rs 50.6 crore on hand, according to reports in local media.

The campaign amount, raised by Mamdani, is more than double what former Governor Andrew Cuomo raised (Rs 4.21 crore) in the same period. 

Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for mayor, reacted to the news of foreign donations to Mamdani's campaign, saying, "Where there's smoke, there's fire, so I would be very concerned. There is probably a lot more in terms of foreign money."

"It's very problematic, not just for Zohran Mamdani, but anybody who has these kinds of PACs, because it's a license to illegally funnel money," he added.

Two months earlier, Sliwa told Fox Business that he wanted the US Department of Justice to investigate. He suspects that Mamdani might be getting help from "dark money" that could be coming illegally through foreign nationals into super PACs supporting Mamdani.

Marquardt, a US citizen who works as a consultant in Hamburg, Germany, said, "It's the only campaign I've seen that's not trying to win by convincing a group of people to hate another group of people."