Both brothers Phil and Terrence Banks were the targets of the attack Federal investigation into close associates of Mayor Eric Adams — He has a taste for the finest things and loves to hang out at Manhattan’s swanky nightclubs, the Post has learned.
Phil Banks, the city's deputy mayor for public safety, frequents Casa Cipriani, a posh, members-only establishment on South Street that charges its clients $3,900 a year — in addition to a one-time initiation fee of $2,000, according to sources and the club's website.
According to online payroll records, Banks earned about $252,000 last year for his work with the Adams administration, which the retired cop earned in addition to his annual NYPD pension of about $135,000.
He and Terrence, a retired MTA employee, also regularly visited Club Macanudo, an upscale cigar club on 63rd Street owned by a cigar maker of the same name.
His lavish habits led a former co-worker to call Phil “a greedy former boss who thinks he's above the law.”
Another source, a retired police supervisor, told the Post, “He has expensive tastes — cigars, cognac, watches — but he doesn't like to pay.”
“That’s why he got in trouble in the first place, hanging out with Jeremy Reichberg,” the supervisor said, referring to the City Hall fundraiser who was convicted in 2016 as part of a larger NYPD corruption scandal.
“You'd think Banks would have learned,” the source said.
The brothers — who are also the siblings of Schools Chancellor David Banks, an Adams appointee also under federal investigation — have come under intense scrutiny for their involvement in the sweeping probe, which saw agents show up at their door last week.
No one has been accused of wrongdoing.
Members of the Banks family Has been a close friend of the mayor for a long timeAdams said Tuesday that his father received guidance from his police father early in his police career.
Terrence Banks — a former MTA official who retired last year and receives an $88,000 annual pension, According to SeeThroughNY – After his retirement he started his own consulting firm, The Pearl Alliance.
“The man leaving the MTA pursued a lavish lifestyle — from jetting off to Martha’s Vineyard to hanging out with some of New York’s elite,” one source said of Terrence, who made $127,000 as a mid-level supervisor in his final year at the MTA.
Public records show his clients have millions of dollars in contracts with the city. Terrance — who is not a registered lobbyist — Cleaned up your business website After the federal government launched raids.
He also reportedly raised a ton of money for Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign.
Federal authorities have not specified the ultimate goal of last week's raids, summons and inquiries. But sources have said investigators from the Southern District of New York are investigating large-scale corruption and abuse of influence.
Investigators also want to know Did Phil Banks help push a city contract According to sources, he used to contact his brother's customers.
Phil Banks isn't the only Adams assistant under investigation who is collecting a pension and city salary.
Timothy Pierson, a retired NYPD inspector who now advises Adams on public safety — and whose home was also raided last week — receives a generous salary of about $242,000 from his police career, plus a pension of $124,000.
As far as assets go, Phil Banks also owns more than $1 million worth of shares in companies like Tesla, Apple, McDonald’s and a variety of cryptocurrencies, according to annual conflict of interest disclosures obtained by The Post.
The disclosures show he makes thousands of dollars every year from his three rental properties in New York City.
He also appears to have property in Fort Myers, Florida, where he visits on the weekends.
Once a rising star in the New York Police Department — and a finalist for former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s job as police commissioner — Phil’s career was derailed when the federal government targeted him in another corruption investigation more than a decade ago.
Investigators found suspicious deposits worth “millions” of dollars in his bank accounts while they were looking into his close ties to two businessmen who were being investigated for giving gifts to high-ranking NYPD members in exchange for favors.
The growing storm pushed Banks out — and he abruptly resigned in October 2014 rather than take a promotion to the NYPD’s No. 2 spot.
The FBI later said the $300,000 transaction showed all the hallmarks of money laundering.
Neither Phil or Terrence Banks or Pearson responded to requests for comment Wednesday. Lawyers for Terrence and Phil Banks referred the Post to earlier statements.
Terrence's attorney, Timothy D. Sini, said: “We have been assured by the government that Mr. Banks is not a target of this investigation.”
Phil Banks' attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said he believed his client: “has zero criminal liability in this case — zero.”
Phil and Terrence's reputation has the police puzzled – and they joke that the Banks brothers should be called the James brothers, after the famous outlaws of the Old West.
Both also appear at Nexus Club New York, another private membership club on Church Street, which spans an entire city block and features four different restaurants, a gym, a spa and a simulated indoor driving range, among other things.
Sources said Phil doesn't have a subscription himself, but uses his brother's account.
The source said: “Phil loves going out to expensive restaurants and smoking cigars. As long as someone else is paying.”
