Federal agents and NYPD investigators fanned out across New York City on Wednesday morning, executing search warrants at multiple locations as part of a corruption investigation targeting current and former leaders of the nation's largest police department. The raids mark a dramatic escalation in what has become a sprawling federal probe into the conduct of officials tied to the administration of former Mayor Eric Adams.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed the operation in a statement, saying her department's Internal Affairs Bureau worked alongside the FBI to carry out the warrants. She identified the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York as a co-pursuer of the criminal investigation.
The searches come on the same morning that Frank Carone, Adams's former chief of staff and top adviser, was arrested on federal bribery charges for allegedly accepting roughly $120,000 in payoffs to steer a lucrative migrant shelter contract to a hotel that city officials had deemed unsuitable. Together, the twin developments paint a picture of Democratic governance in New York City that has been hollowed out by self-dealing at the highest levels.
Who the FBI is targeting inside the NYPD
Sources told ABC News that the investigation is examining how promotions and assignments within the NYPD were carried out, and whether those decisions were corrupted. Two names have surfaced as targets: Jimmy McCarthy, the current Chief of Manhattan South, and Tarik Sheppard, the department's former chief spokesman.
McCarthy has been placed on modified duty, the NYPD confirmed. Sheppard's current status was not disclosed.
FBI agents were also spotted outside the Brooklyn home of Jeffrey Maddrey, the former Chief of Department, the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the NYPD. Whether Maddrey is formally a target or subject of the investigation remains unclear. The New York Post reported that the FBI seized phones from Maddrey and other senior police officials as part of a probe into alleged bribery, misconduct, and improper handling of promotions and assignments.
No arrests of NYPD officials have been confirmed so far. No charges have been publicly filed against McCarthy, Sheppard, or Maddrey. But the scope of the warrants, spanning multiple locations across the city, suggests investigators believe there is substantial evidence to collect.
The Carone indictment: bribes, a sham retainer, and a migrant shelter
The arrest of Frank Carone adds another layer to the corruption crisis engulfing Adams's orbit. The New York Post reported that Carone faces a 13-count federal indictment alleging he pocketed $120,000 in bribes while serving in city government. The payments were allegedly funneled through his brother Anthony Carone's law firm via a sham retainer agreement.
The scheme, prosecutors allege, was designed to help Chinese nationals secure a $6.825 million city contract for a migrant shelter. The hotel that won the contract had been flagged by city officials as unsuitable. Three others were arrested alongside Carone: his brother Anthony, Queens hotel owner Yan Po Zhu, and Crystal Chen, an employee of Zhu.
This is not the first time federal agents have raided Democrat-linked figures over migrant shelter bribery schemes, the pattern of corruption surrounding the city's migrant crisis contracts has become a recurring feature of New York's political landscape.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Winik did not hold back about the charges against Carone:
"Frank Carone was entrusted to run our city government and instead put his own wealth and status above duty."
Prosecutors also allege that Carone deleted a text message from Zhu referencing a payment after learning he was under investigation, conduct that led to an additional obstruction of justice charge. The Washington Examiner reported that the arrests represent a significant escalation in the corruption investigation surrounding Adams and his inner circle, with indictments expected to be unsealed.
Commissioner Tisch frames the raids as accountability
Tisch, who took over as commissioner amid the turmoil that has engulfed the department, cast the searches as evidence that leadership is cleaning house. Her full statement leaned heavily on the language of institutional reform:
"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. This investigation and our actions this morning are part of the ongoing effort to fulfill that commitment and hold the Department to its highest ideals."
The statement is carefully worded. Tisch did not identify potential suspects or specify charges. She confirmed only that the investigation "concerns conduct by former and current members of the NYPD."
What Tisch did not address is why it took a federal investigation, and the FBI, to surface alleged corruption inside the department she leads. The Internal Affairs Bureau is participating, but the driving force appears to be the Southern District of New York, not the NYPD itself.
A pattern of federal action against New York's Democratic leadership
Wednesday's raids did not happen in a vacuum. The corruption investigations surrounding Adams's administration have been building for months. Fox News previously reported that former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban resigned after federal agents raided his home and seized electronic devices. On the same day Caban was served, agents also executed warrants on First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III, and mayoral adviser Timothy Pearson.
Caban's twin brother James was under investigation in connection with his nightlife consulting business, allegedly acting as a "fixer" for New York City clubs. In his resignation letter, Caban wrote that he decided "it is in the best interest of the Department that I resign as Commissioner."
The Breitbart report on the Carone arrest noted that the FBI joined the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau in executing search warrants on the homes of Maddrey, McCarthy, and Sheppard, underscoring the breadth of what has become a multi-pronged federal investigation into Democratic governance in the city.
The trend extends well beyond New York. Federal agents have pursued corruption cases against Democratic officials in cities and districts across the country, from the FBI's raid on the Los Angeles school superintendent's home and office to fraud charges against local Democratic mayors in Louisiana.
What remains unanswered
For all the drama of Wednesday morning's operation, critical questions remain. No formal charges have been announced against any NYPD official. The precise nature of the alleged corruption in promotions and assignments has not been detailed publicly. Investigators have not disclosed how many locations were searched or what was seized beyond phones.
It is also unclear when the investigation began or what triggered it. Whether Maddrey, whose Brooklyn home drew FBI attention, is a formal target, a subject, or a witness has not been stated on the record.
And there is a broader question that hangs over all of it: how deep does this go? Adams himself was indicted on federal charges last year. His chief of staff now faces a 13-count indictment. His former police commissioner resigned under a cloud of federal warrants. Senior NYPD leaders are under investigation for allegedly selling promotions and assignments.
The federal bribery probe sweeping the NYPD now touches nearly every tier of the department's former leadership structure.
At some point, a pattern this consistent stops looking like a few bad actors and starts looking like a culture. New Yorkers deserve to know which one they've been paying for, and for how long.
When the people entrusted to enforce the law are the ones allegedly breaking it, and the people entrusted to run the city are the ones allegedly looting it, the failure isn't individual. It's institutional. And the institution that failed New York is the same Democratic political machine that keeps asking voters to trust it with more power.
