FBI, NYPD carry out searches tied to bribery investigation into current and former NYPD officials
The FBI, New York Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York carried out searches across New York City on Wednesday morning as part of a bribery investigation into current and former members of the NYPD.
The searches stemmed from an ongoing probe into the conduct of former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, a source told CBS News.
The search warrants executed Wednesday morning, including at Maddrey’s home, are part of a joint FBI and NYPD probe into Maddrey and focused on bribery allegations, according to two senior law enforcement officials in New York. Maddrey is being probed as part of allegations he accepted bribes in exchange for favors, promotions and assignment, sources say.
Another probe involves James McCarthy, the current assistant chief and commanding officer of the Manhattan South precinct, and former Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard, who retired last year. McCarthy’s duties have been modified and he’s been transferred and replaced by NYPD Assistant Chief Melissa Eger, an NYPD spokesperson told CBS News.
The probe, involving the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Division, is part of an effort by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to root out corruption in the agency.
“When I became Police Commissioner, I promised New Yorkers that under my leadership the NYPD would conduct itself with integrity and that there would be a thorough investigation of any claim that members of service failed to meet that standard,” Tisch said in a statement.
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Former NYC mayor’s chief of staff arrested in separate NYC federal bribery case
The investigation into NYPD officials was one of just two federal investigations in New York City to come to a head on Wednesday morning.
Frank Carone, the former chief of staff to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday morning at his residence in Manhattan on bribery-related charges stemming from a city contract, according to an indictment.
Carone and three others, including his brother, are accused of exploiting New York City’s migrant crisis for profit between June 2022 and December 2023, according to the indictment. Carone’s brother, Anthony; Yan Po Zhu, a Queens, New York, hotel owner; and an employee of the hotel, Crystal Chen, were also arrested Wednesday morning, according to sources.
Among the charges the four individuals are facing in the 13-count indictment are fraud, bribery, money laundering, obstruction of justice and tax fraud.
According to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York, the defendants are being released on bond, set at $2 million for Frank Carone; $500,000 for Anthony Carone; $100,000 for Crystal Chen; and $8 million plus home monitoring for Yan Po Zhu.
The crimes allegedly took place amid the migrant crisis in 2022 when New York City saw an influx of asylum-seekers, some bused to the city by southern states, in its shelter system. The system was overrun due to the city’s “right to shelter” law, which guaranteed shelter for anyone who was seeking it. As part of a solution, the city received billions in grant money to provide housing, including at local hotels.
Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images 
Starting in June 2022, the four charged in the scheme hatched “a scheme to exploit the City’s migrant crisis for profit,” according to the indictment. Frank Carone, the mayor’s chief of staff, agreed to accept a series of bribe payments from Zhu, the hotel owner, and Chen, the hotel manager, through Carone’s brother, Anthony, according to court documents.
Zhu and Chen allegedly paid about $120,000 in bribes for the city to steer an emergency shelter contract to Zhu’s hotel, according to the indictment. Zhu and Chen had already sought a contract with the city through legal means, but had been turned down, partly due to the hotel’s location in Long Island City, Queens, according to the indictment. The pair then turned to Frank Carone, who Zhu knew personally, to facilitate a contract, the indictment says.
Even as members of the Department of Social Services continually pushed back against the location owned by Zhu for months, due to its limited size, Capone allegedly kept pushing for the site to get a contract, according to the indictment. Eventually, the hotel was granted a contract in November 2022 for $6.825 million, the indictment says.
The bribes were allegedly funneled through Anthony Capone’s law firm, according to the indictment. The bribes were transferred to Frank Capone’s personal credit card account and he spent them on travel, dining, fitness memberships, clothing and other personal expenses, the indictment says.
In spring 2024, the Carone brothers learned they were under a federal investigation, according to the indictment, and attempted to conceal the scheme — the basis of the obstruction of justice charges.
“The alleged conspiracy resulted in a massive betrayal of the American taxpayers’ trust by steering millions of dollars in funding for asylum housing in exchange for illegal bribe payments, which were then funneled to cover personal expenses,” FBI Assistant in Charge James Barnacle said in a statement announcing the charges.
Each of the four defendants faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the charges.
The indictment does not mention any involvement by Mayor Adams.
Arthur Aidala, Frank Carone’s attorney, issued a statement calling the indictment “a sad day for our criminal justice system.”
“It epitomizes the Government first finding a target and then spending three years and enormous taxpayer resources to find a crime,” Aidala said.
“After intense investigations over many years, all the Government was able to come up with was this weak indictment based on purely circumstantial evidence that’s not worth the paper upon which it’s printed. Everyone who knows the Carone brothers know they do things the right way; that’s why it took over three years for them to come up with something that they could put on paper. We look forward to appearing before a jury and obtaining a swift acquittal,” he added.
