Six former volunteers for a City Council campaign were brought into a Queens courtroom in handcuffs Thursday afternoon.

The five defendants were part of a scheme to benefit Republican candidate Yu-Ching James Pai’s bid to represent the City Council’s 20th District in Queens, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

What You Need To Know

  • Six former City Council campaign volunteers are accused of filing fraudulent absentee ballots on behalf of 23 voters, according to the Queens District Attoney's Office

  • Queens prosecutors said the campaign volunteers worked on the 2023 Republican primary campaign for Yu-Ching James Pai for Council District 20

  • Pai won the June 2023 primary by less than 200 votes

Pai won the June 2023 primary by less than 200 votes. Pai’s Republican primary opponent, Dany Chen, had questions about the results.

“There was a surprising number of votes that came in via absentee ballots,” Chen attorney Aaron Foldenauer said. “I spoke personally with a number of individuals, and met with them personally, who tried to vote in this election, but they were told they could not vote because they had already submitted an absentee ballot. And of course, those same individuals told me they never submitted an absentee ballot.”

After a months-long investigation, the Queens District Attorney’s Office unsealed a 161 count indictment Thursday, charging six people tied to the Pai campaign with crimes, including illegal voting, falsifying business records and possession of a forged instrument.

Police tracked down and arrested five of the six people indicted.

Sydnee Pai, Li Zhen Wan, Yee Ping Yam, Lisbeth Cheng and Crystal You all pleaded not guilty during their arraignments. They each face up to seven years in prison if convicted.

James Pai did not immediately return multiple requests for comment from NY1.