F.B.I. Agents Investigate Use of Fake Donors in N.Y. Assembly Race

The inquiry follows a New York Times report questioning the validity of more than $162,000 in matching funds given to Dao Yin, a Democrat of Queens.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have opened a criminal investigation of Dao Yin, a recent New York State Assembly candidate suspected of using fake donors and forged signatures to artificially inflate his allotment of matching funds, according to several people familiar with the matter.

The pattern of behavior, first reported by The New York Times this summer, allowed Mr. Yin to receive more than $162,000 in taxpayer money under a new program designed in Albany to boost the value of small-money donors and reduce the corrupting influence of big money in state campaigns.

But more than two dozen donors Mr. Yin listed as cash contributors told The Times they did not donate.

Many of them also said their signatures were forged onto the contribution cards he submitted to the state. Several of those people told The Times that they have been questioned by F.B.I. agents as potential witnesses.

“He is defrauding the public, stealing people’s identities,” said Asif Alli, who said he was contacted by the F.B.I. and asked about his appearance on Mr. Yin’s campaign report as a donor even though he never gave the candidate anything. “Of course they should be investigating.”

Mr. Yin, when asked for comment at his home in Queens on Thursday night, declined to do so and threatened to call the police after a reporter knocked on his door.