A chief of staff to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams and several other people have been arrested as part of an investigation into an alleged bribery scheme involving a city contract, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Frank Carone, along with his brother Anthony Carone, as well as a Queens hotel owner and an employee of the hotel owner, were arrested Wednesday morning, said one of the people, a law enforcement official.
Both people were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.
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.”
