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.
Each pleaded not guilty in federal court in Brooklyn Wednesday afternoon. Frank Carone was released on $2 million bail, while Zhu was released on $8 million bail.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said Frank Carone, in his capacity as Adams’ 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’ campaign for mayor in 2021 and served as Adams’ 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’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, called the indictment “weak” and “based on purely circumstantial evidence that’s not worth the paper upon which it is printed.”
A source says Frank Carone, former chief of staff to Mayor Eric Adams, was arrested by the FBI in an alleged bribery scheme.
“Today’s indictment is a sad day for our criminal justice system,” Aidala said in a statement. “It epitomizes the government first finding a target and then spending three years and enormous taxpayer resources to find a crime.”
In a separate statement, Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams, said Frank Carone “dedicated decades of his life to public service, the legal profession, and helping countless individuals, businesses, and charitable organizations throughout New York.”
“This is an ongoing legal matter, and my prayers are with his family,” 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’s Social Services Department had initially rejected the hotel’s 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’s behalf, prosecutors allege. In one text exchange in September 2022, Zhu wrote: “Thank you my big guy,” according to the indictment.
The Carones and Zhu socialized frequently and attended gatherings at Zhu’s Long Island home, the indictment said.