Story perspectives

Ex-Adams Aide Frank Carone Charged in $6.8 M Shelter Bribe

6/25/2026

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Carone Arrested

The indictment claims a $120,000 bribe scheme steered a $6.8 million migrant-shelter contract to a Long Island City hotel.
Agents arrested Frank Carone, his brother Anthony Carone, owner Yan Po Zhu and employee Crystal Chen in Brooklyn on bribery and money-laundering charges.
Carone, former Mayor Eric Adams’s chief of staff, later founded Oaktree Solutions, now largely staff-less.
Prosecutors say bribes were masked as legal-fee payments and laundered through Anthony Carone’s law firm.

Right

Carone Arrested

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch pledged to uphold NYPD integrity while internal affairs and the FBI executed search warrants.
Agents arrested Frank Carone, brother Anthony Carone, owner Yan Po Zhu, employee Crystal Chen in Brooklyn on bribery, money-laundering charges.
Todd Shapiro, Eric Adams’s spokesperson, defended Carone, citing long service and praying for his family.
Raids searched homes of NYPD officials Jeffrey Maddrey, James McCarthy and Tarik Sheppard; no arrests.

History

Historical Context

In 1980 the FBI’s Abscam sting in New York recorded Senator Harrison A. Williams taking $50,000 and Congressman Michael Myers accepting $50,000, resulting in convictions and Myers’s expulsion from the House. The indictment of former mayor Eric Adams’s chief of staff Frank Carone and Yan Po Zhu alleges a $120,000 bribe that steered a $6.8 million shelter contract, spurring tighter municipal procurement rules.

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Carone Arrested

The indictment claims a $120,000 bribe scheme steered a $6.8 million migrant-shelter contract to a Long Island City hotel.
Agents arrested Frank Carone, his brother Anthony Carone, owner Yan Po Zhu and employee Crystal Chen in Brooklyn on bribery and money-laundering charges.
Carone, former Mayor Eric Adams’s chief of staff, later founded Oaktree Solutions, now largely staff-less.
Prosecutors say bribes were masked as legal-fee payments and laundered through Anthony Carone’s law firm.

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