Edited by: TJVNews.com
Mayor Elect Eric Adams on Monday decided to distance himself from a donor who finds himself embroiled in controversy. According to a report in the New York Daily News, Adams sought to return a donation from ASA College President Alex Shchegol as the latter was accused of sexual abuse by at least 10 women.
Adams is seeking to return a $4000 donation from the for-profit college president. Currently, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has launched an investigation into this “deeply disturbing issue” and Adams wants to disassociate himself from Shchegol as soon as possible.
Shchegol was terminated from his position in 2019 at the college located in Brooklyn when 10 students and staff members accused him of sexual misconduct–including rape, sending unsolicited pictures of his penis and coercing students who relied on him for employment or visas into sex, as was reported by the Daily Mail of the UK.
According to a letter from the college’s board to the NYC Commission on Human Rights, the allegations resulted in more than $2 million in out-of-court settlements, as was reported by the Daily Mail.
Last month, however, Shchegol was reinstated in his position at the college which has campuses in New York City and Florida. Apparently, Shchegol presented a letter to the college’s Board of Trustees from his sex addiction therapist saying she worked with him on issues of ‘victim empathy’ and ‘accountability,’ as was reported by the Daily Mail.
The letter reportedly said he ‘understood how he should behave with employees and students.’
The Daily News reported that shen the board initially rejected his request for reinstatement, Shchegol ousted five members of the seven-member board who voted against his reinstatement and replaced them with allies, who voted for him to get his job back on October 11.
Allegations of Shchegol’s sexual misconduct span many years, according to published reports. The Daily Mail reports that in 2006 a Russian immigrant and student at ASA, Irina Akhmetzyanova , filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court alleging that Shchegol personally offered to help her obtain a visa, then sabotaged the application.
A former employee, Irina Mokova, in 2018 accused Shchegol of trying to get her to help him choose attractive students to solicit.
She claimed in a lawsuit he once accidentally CCed her in an email with a picture of a penis meant for one of the students.
‘For decades, Defendant Shchegol would require employees, including Mokova to arrange meetings between himself and attractive international students or prospective students, so he couple proposition the students for sex,’ the lawsuit read.
