NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A chief of staff to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with accepting more than $100,000 in bribes to steer a city contract for emergency housing for migrants to a Queens hotel, according a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.
The indictment lodges multiple charges of bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and other crimes against Frank Carone, along with his brother Anthony Carone as well as a Queens hotel owner Yan Po Zhu and Crystal Chen, an employee of the hotel.
They were expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon.
Prosecutors said Frank Carone, in his capacity as Adams鈥� chief of staff, accepted a series of bribes from Zhu and Chen in order to steer a multimillion dollar shelter contract to their hotel.
The contract was awarded as a result of the migrant crisis in 2022 in which southern state governors were sending undocumented people to New York by bus.
Frank Carone played a key role in Adams鈥� campaign for mayor in 2021 and served as Adams鈥� chief of staff in 2022. In 2023, he formed a political consulting firm. He also was a one-time lawyer for the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
Frank Carone鈥檚 lawyer, Arthur Aidala, called the indictment 鈥渨eak鈥� and 鈥渂ased on purely circumstantial evidence that鈥檚 not worth the paper upon which it is printed.鈥�
鈥淭oday鈥檚 indictment is a sad day for our criminal justice system,鈥� Aidala said in a statement. 鈥淚t epitomizes the government first finding a target and then spending three years and enormous taxpayer resources to find a crime.鈥�
In a separate statement, Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams, said Frank Carone 鈥渄edicated decades of his life to public service, the legal profession, and helping countless individuals, businesses, and charitable organizations throughout New York.鈥�
鈥淭his is an ongoing legal matter and my prayers are with his family,鈥� Shapiro’s statement said.
It was not immediately clear if Anthony Carone, Zhu and Chen had lawyers who could respond to the allegations.
In total, Frank Carone was paid around $120,000 by Zhu and Che for the emergency shelter contract, prosecutors said. The money was passed through a law firm owned by his brother, Anthony Carone, according to the indictment.
The city鈥檚 Social Services Department had initially rejected the hotel鈥檚 application to house migrants due to growing resistance to the high number of shelters already operating in the neighborhood, the indictment said.
Carone then interceded on the hotel鈥檚 behalf, prosecutors allege. In one text exchange in September 2022, Zhu wrote: 鈥淭hank you my big guy,鈥� according to the indictment.
The Carones and Zhu socialized frequently and attended gatherings at Zhu鈥檚 Long Island home, the indictment said.
Separately Wednesday, federal agents searched the homes of current and former New York Police Department leaders as part of a bribery investigation that grew out of an inquiry into Jeffrey Maddrey, the chief of department under Adams, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the searches.
As part of that inquiry, the FBI and the NYPD executed warrants on the home of NYPD Chief of Manhattan South James McCarthy and former Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, according to the person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Maddrey鈥檚 home was also searched by federal agents, the person said.
The searches were not related to the arrest of Frank Carone, according to another person familiar with the matter who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case. There is no public indication of any arrests as part of those searches.
Once the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the department, Maddrey resigned in late 2024 over allegations that he demanded sex from a subordinate in exchange for opportunities to earn extra pay.
An inquiry to his attorney was not immediately returned. Attorney information for Sheppard and McCarthy was not immediately available.
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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut, and Durkin Richer reported from Washington.
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