Frank Carone, a close friend and longtime political confidant to former New York Mayor Eric Adams, was arrested on a federal indictment Wednesday, the Daily News has learned.
Carone’s brother, Anthony Carone, and two others were also apprehended in what a source described as a “bribery scheme.”
The former City Hall chief of staff was arrested at his Manhattan home early Wednesday.
The indictment is expected to be unsealed in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday afternoon. The exact accusations against Carone were not immediately disclosed.
Carone, who served as Mayor Adams’ chief of staff and parlayed his ties with the former mayor into a lucrative consulting business, was being investigated by Brooklyn federal prosecutors for corruption, the New York Times reported earlier this year.
A federal grand jury was empaneled to hear the evidence in January.
Carone was also a partner behind the launch of the ex-New York City mayor’s controversial cryptocurrency token, according to sources.
The so-called “NYC Token” value plunged when an account pulled millions of dollars in liquidity out of it within hours of the launch, officials said earlier this year.
The liquidity withdrawal triggered accusations that the ex-mayor’s coin had been involved in a “rug pull,” a cryptocurrency scam under which someone creates hype around a new token in order to secure capital that they then quickly pull out and run off with.
Carone, an attorney, has known the ex-mayor for decades and spearheaded Adams’ aborted reelection campaign. He has no known experience in the crypto industry. He left City Hall in December 2022.
Adams, who left office on Dec. 31 after a single term marred by multiple corruption scandals, including his own federal indictment, said that proceeds from his cryptocurrency token would go to efforts aimed at fighting “antisemitism and anti-Americanism.”
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.