&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "FBI arrests close aide to former New York mayor in migrant hotel bribery case")
Federal investigators arrested Frank Carone, the former chief of staff to former New York Mayor Eric Adams, on Wednesday, along with his brother Anthony Carone and two other individuals in connection with a federal bribery case.
According to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn, Carone allegedly "agreed to accept a series of bribe payments" as part of a scheme to "exploit the city's migrant crisis for profit" while serving as chief of staff.
The case dates to 2022, when New York City was dealing with a large influx of migrants and urgently needed hotel space to house asylum seekers through emergency contracts.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Carone accepted $120,000 in bribes from co-defendants Crystal Chen and Yan Po Zhu in return for helping secure a multimillion-dollar emergency contract for a Microtel hotel in Long Island City, Queens, which they controlled.
Investigators said the payments were routed through an account controlled by Anthony Carone to hide the alleged bribery scheme. The indictment stated, "In total, Zhu and Chen paid approximately $120,000 to F. Carone in exchange for an Emergency Shelter Contract for the Microtel, which was laundered through the Law Firm #2 account by A. Carone and his co-defendants."
Court documents also included photographs showing Zhu and Carone socialising at Zhu's Long Island home in June 2022. Prosecutors said the meetings took place when efforts by Zhu and Chen to obtain an Emergency Shelter Contract through other channels had slowed. The indictment alleged that "Zhu leveraged his burgeoning personal relationship with the defendant, Frank V. Carone."
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The city later awarded the Microtel a contract worth nearly $7 million despite the hotel being smaller than another Long Island City property under consideration.
The four defendants face 13 charges, including conspiracy, federal program bribery and obstruction.
Carone played a key role in Eric Adams' transition into office in January 2022 and served as chief of staff until December of that year. Upon leaving the administration, he described the role as an "honour keeping the trains running for this administration," according to a press release issued at the time.
