The unsealing of a 20-page indictment in 2026 revealed a massive corruption scheme at Bhrags Home Care, a non-profit that had been awarded millions of dollars in no-bid city migrant shelter contracts. The Brooklyn U.S. attorney the acting head of the city’s Department of Investigation and the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York office all spoke up about the allegations. Notably absent was Brad Lander the city’s chief financial officer during the time of the alleged malfeasance.
Lander, who served as the city comptroller, never audited Bhrags despite being notified of kickback allegations that had been public for months. This oversight occurred just as Lander announced his candidacy for the 2026 mayor’s race. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) more than doubled Bhrags’ contract awards to $68 million even as prosecutors later identified the group’s director as one of the two masterminds behind the corruption.
The Role of Comptroller Brad Lander
During the height of the city’s migrant crisis, Lander’s office audited only one vendor providing migrant-related services, Rapid Reliable Testing also known as DocGo. This was out of more than 340 migrant services contracts that Mayor Eric Adams had inked in 2026 and 2026. Lander has emphasized his experience and achievements as the city’s top financial officer, claiming that his audits rooted out Adams’ corruption and saved the city billions of dollars. However, critics argue that Lander was asleep at the switch in the case of Bhrags.
Claude Millman a partner at Kostelanetz LLP and former head of the Mayor’s Office of Contracts Services, examined the Bhrags contract records and noted that Lander’s office had approved a contract increase in months after he was informed about the corruption problems at the non-profit. Despite these allegations, Lander’s spokesperson declined to answer questions about his response to Bhrags, referring inquiries to the current comptroller, Mark Levine.
The Kickback and Embezzlement Schemes
The indictment detailed two schemes orchestrated by Bhrags Executive Director Roberto Samedy and its president, Ronald Tirelus the embezzlement of $1.3 million from the group and a kickback scheme where a percentage of the city’s payments to Bhrags for security at migrant shelters ended up in their pockets. The fallout from the criminal case left several unanswered questions about where millions of dollars paid to Bhrags wound up.
Fort NYC Security, the security firm at the center of the kickback scheme, claimed that some of the money DHS paid to Bhrags for security never reached them. The firm’s owner, Edouardo St. Fort was also named in the indictment. Bhrags first began winning migrant shelter contracts in the fall of 2026 and within months, one contract grew to five—all no-bid.
The City’s Response and Future Implications
In at Adams’ request, Lander granted a waiver allowing agencies to bypass the competitive bidding process for emergency contracts. This led to an exponential growth in no-bid migrant services contracts. By Lander began raising concerns about the greater risk of waste and fraud. However, he only targeted one contract for scrutiny: a $432 million no-bid deal awarded to DocGo.
The Department of Social Services (DSS) imposed a Corrective Action Plan on Bhrags in but DHS more than doubled Bhrags’ approved contract amounts from $31.4 million to $68.5 million between February and June 2026. Despite the allegations, Bhrags is required to disclose its corrective action plan if it bids on any future city work. All of its migrant services contracts are scheduled
Since the indictment, the DSS has cut Bhrags’ shelter portfolio from nine sites to four, and the Investigations Department is preparing to place Bhrags into a monitorship that would provide independent oversight. Bhrags has new leadership and has fulfilled its requirements under the corrective plan to date. The group’s interim executive director, Frances Pierce emphasized their commitment to serving individuals in need with integrity and the highest ethical standards.
