New York City investigators searched Sheriff Anthony Miranda’s Queens office on Thursday after receiving a report about unvouchered cash, according to the city Department of Investigation — marking yet another potential criminal probe into an appointee of Mayor Eric Adams.
A City Hall spokesperson said Miranda alerted the Department of Finance, which alerted the DOI to cash that was not properly accounted for. Politico was first to report the search, but DOI publicly acknowledged the probe on Friday.
“DOI is investigating matters related to the Sheriff’s Office and was present at the Sheriff’s Long Island City location yesterday,” department spokesperson Diane Struzzi said in a statement. “DOI will not be commenting further as this is an ongoing investigation.”
The search was executed within hours of federal prosecutors unsealing a historic indictment against Adams that accused him of accepting bribes and committing fraud. It also comes amid at least three other federal investigations into Adams’ allies and high-ranking deputies.
Miranda and Adams served on the police force together decades ago, and Adams appointed Miranda to his current post. He is a longtime ally of the mayor.
According to testimony before the City Council last week, multiple complaints have been filed with DOI about improper cash seizures during what the city has dubbed “Operation Padlock,” a citywide push to crack down on illegal pot shops.
Miranda told councilmembers he was unaware of how much cash had been seized from cannabis stores, because he said the NYPD should be taking any seized cash. But lawyers for cannabis stores said the NYPD designated the sheriff’s office as responsible for the money.
Miranda is reportedly being investigated in a pay-to-play scheme. He’s also locked in an argument with union leaders over staffing in the sheriff’s office.
Adams defended Miranda after last week’s Council meeting, saying, “Yes, I have confidence. He’s doing the job that New York is asking him to do.”
“Sheriff Miranda learned of seemingly unvouchered cash held in safe boxes and self-reported the incident to his supervisors,” City Hall spokesperson Liz Garcia said in a statement this week. “His supervisors then reported this to the Department of Investigation. We expect every city employee to follow proper procedures.”
Union leaders questioned Miranda’s claim to have suddenly found and investigated improperly seized cash a week after questions from councilmembers.
“That he magically found that and he reported it to DOI, I don’t buy it,” said Ingrid Simonovic, president of the New York City Deputy Sheriff’s Association. “What he did is a classic example of damage control. You won’t do your own investigation when you find out that they’re investigating you.”
This story has been updated to clarify how the unaccounted for cash was reported to the Department of Investigation.