Zohran Mamdani campaign still receiving overseas cash after returning $9K in foreign donations

Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s campaign returned nearly $9,000 in potentially illegal foreign donations — but still is receiving contributions from people with overseas addresses, a Post review has found.

The revelation followed news that Mamdani’s campaign was hit with a pair of criminal referrals just weeks after The Post revealed the upstart socialist had raked in nearly $13,000 in donations from overseas.

The Democratic nominee for mayor has given back $9,000 of the foreign donations total, which his campaign claims the remaining $4,000 is coming from American citizens living abroad

The campaign refunded 67 overseas donors just during the last filing period between Sept. 8 and Oct. 20, totaling $3,893, according to the latest filing with the Campaign Finance Board.

One of the returns from the latest filing period went to Ada Diaz Ahmed, a Dubai-based investor who had donated the maximum $2,100.

But others featured in the Oct. 12 Post exposé, such as Australian climate scientist James Furlaud, who also donated the maximum amount, were not refunded.

He’s among the group of 21 donors that the campaign claims are American citizens chipping in from abroad, which is permissible under campaign finance law.

You must be a US citizen to donate to a city campaign.

The campaign finance records also show that Mamdani has continued to receive donations from abroad addresses within the last two weeks.

This month, Mamdani has received donations from three people in London, Australia and Germany, totaling $130.

Those donors could not be reached.

Albeit small, the issue seemingly points to a loophole in the system that, instead of checking if the donation is legal upfront, relies on the CFB to audit each campaign — a process that often takes years to complete.

It has raised eyebrows, with the Coolidge Reagan Foundation filing criminal referrals, accusing the Queens lawmaker of violating the Federal Election Campaign Act and New York Election Code.

The referrals were sent to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office on Tuesday. 

The Post also found that ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign has received around $1,100 in donations from foreign addresses, with nearly half of it being refunded.

GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa has received $70 from foreign addresses that haven’t been refunded.

The Cuomo campaign said it returned the donations that it couldn’t verify as Americans living abroad, while the Sliwa campaign said they would return any improper contributions.

“If the city’s campaign finance portal allowed foreign donations to be processed, that is a system issue the Campaign Finance Board must address and any improper contributions will be returned,” CFB spokesperson Daniel Kurzyna said in a statement.