Federal prosecutors unsealed a 13-count indictment on June 24, 2026, charging Frank Carone, former chief of staff to ex-New York City Mayor Eric Adams, along with his brother Anthony Carone, Queens hotel owner Yan Po Zhu, and hotel employee Crystal Chen [1]. The charges include bribery, wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and tax fraud [1][2]. All four defendants were arrested the same day the indictment was unsealed in the Eastern District of New York [2].
Prosecutors allege that Frank Carone accepted approximately $120,000 in bribes to steer a multimillion-dollar city emergency migrant shelter contract to Zhu's Queens Microtel, a hotel that city social services officials had repeatedly evaluated and rejected as unsuitable [1][3]. According to the indictment, Carone used his position within the Adams administration to override or circumvent that rejection process, directing the contract to Zhu despite the documented objections [1]. Anthony Carone and Crystal Chen are alleged to have facilitated the payment scheme, while Zhu is charged as the bribe source [1][2]. The Eastern District of New York investigation was conducted by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation, with coordination from the New York City Department of Investigation [1].
On the same day prosecutors unsealed the indictment, FBI agents executed search warrants at the homes of current and former NYPD officials as part of a related but legally distinct bribery investigation [2][3]. The simultaneous operations signal that federal scrutiny of the Adams administration's orbit extends beyond the migrant shelter matter. Adams himself, who left office following his own federal corruption prosecution, has not been charged in connection with the Carone indictment [3].
The case now enters the arraignment and pretrial phases in the Eastern District of New York. Defense counsel for the defendants had not filed public responses as of the indictment's unsealing [2]. Given the number of counts and the involvement of multiple agencies, pretrial proceedings, including potential suppression motions tied to the search warrants executed on June 24, are likely to extend the timeline before any trial date is set. The indictment marks the most direct federal action yet against a member of Adams' immediate senior staff, and prosecutors have indicated the investigation remains ongoing [1].