Eric Adams and Frank Carone (right).
Luis C. Ribeiro | New York Daily News | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Former New York Mayor Eric Adams’ chief of staff is accused of accepting more than $100,000 in bribes to induce a city contract to provide emergency housing for immigrants to a Queens hotel, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.
The indictment charges Frank Carone, his brother Anthony Carone, Queens Hotel owner Yang Po Zhu, and hotel employee Crystal Chen with multiple counts of bribery, wire fraud, money laundering, and other crimes.
The two are scheduled to appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon.
Prosecutors said Frank Carone, in his capacity as Adams’ chief of staff, accepted a series of bribes from Zhu and Chen to steer multimillion-dollar shelter contracts to their hotels.
The deal was struck as a result of the 2022 immigration crisis, in which southern governors bused illegal aliens into New York.
Frank Carone played a key role in Adams’ campaign for mayor in 2021 and served as Adams’ chief of staff in 2022. In 2023, he established a political consulting company. He was also a former attorney for the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
Frank Carone’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, called the indictment “weak” and “based on purely circumstantial evidence that is not worth putting on paper.”
“Today’s indictment is a sad day for our criminal justice system,” Aidala said in a statement. “This represents the government spending three years and millions of taxpayer dollars to first find the target and then discover the crime.”
Frank Carone walks the red carpet at the star-studded opening ceremony of Hard Rock Hotel New York on May 12, 2022 in New York City.
Jared Siskin | Patrick McMullan | Getty Images
In a separate statement, Adams spokesman Todd Shapiro said Frank Carone “dedicated decades of his life to public service, the legal profession, and supporting countless individuals, businesses, and charities across New York.”
“This is an ongoing legal matter and my prayers are with his family,” Shapiro said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Anthony Caron, Mr. Zhu, and Mr. Chen have attorneys who can respond to the allegations.
Prosecutors say Frank Carone was paid a total of about $120,000 by Chu and Choi for the emergency shelter contract. The money was routed through a law firm owned by his brother Anthony Carone, according to the indictment.
According to the indictment, the city’s Department of Social Services initially denied the hotel’s application to host immigrants, citing growing resistance to the numerous shelters already operating nearby.
Prosecutors allege that Mr. Carone then acted as an intermediary on behalf of the hotel. According to the indictment, in one text message exchange in September 2022, Zhu wrote, “Thank you, my great man.”
According to the indictment, Carones and Zhu often interacted and attended meetings at Zhu’s Long Island home.
Separately on Wednesday, federal agents raided the homes of current and former New York City police officers as part of a bribery investigation stemming from an investigation into Jeffrey Madley, who served as chief of staff under Mr. Adams, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the raids.
As part of the investigation, the FBI and NYPD executed warrants at the homes of NYPD Manhattan Borough South Chief James McCarthy and former Deputy Chief Tariq Shepherd, said the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Madley’s home was also searched by federal agents.
The raid was not related to Frank Carone’s arrest, another person familiar with the matter said. They also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the case publicly. There is no public indication that any arrests have been made as part of these searches.
Madley, once the department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, resigned in late 2024 after being accused of soliciting sexual acts from subordinates in exchange for the chance to earn extra pay.
A request to his attorney was not immediately returned. Attorney information for Mr. Shepherd and Mr. McCarthy is not immediately available.
