The former head of the New York Police Department has filed a federal lawsuit against scandal-scarred New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other high ranking NYPD officials, alleging the group used their power and authority to run a what he called a “criminal enterprise.

In a federal racketeering lawsuit filed Wednesday, the ex-commissioner, Thomas Donlon, alleges Mayor Eric Adams and his inner circle showered unqualified loyalists with promotions, buried allegations of misconduct and gratuitously punished whistleblowers.

Tom Donlon, who took over the NYPD after former Commissioner Edward Caban resigned amid a federal probe, said the department was awash in corruption.