Feds subpoena Brooklyn church over possible dealings with key Adams adviser Frank Carone

NEW YORK — Federal investigators have subpoenaed a Brooklyn church in connection with possible business dealings between one of its priests and Frank Carone, one of Mayor Eric Adams’ most influential advisers, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to the Daily News late Thursday.

The subpoena, first reported by WNBC, requested documents and was issued recently to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Williamsburg, where the priest, Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, has served as lead pastor since 2017, the sources said.

The subpoena was issued in connection with a probe led by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office, sources confirmed.

The focus of the probe wasn’t immediately clear, nor have either Carone or Gigantiello — who are longtime friends — been accused of any wrongdoing. The subpoena requested information about possible business and financial dealings between Carone and Gigantiello, the sources said.

Corporate records and court documents reviewed by The News show Gigantiello and Carone are partners in a corporate entity that holds stake in a company named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit alleging insurance fraud. It’s unclear if the federal inquiry is in any way related to those allegations, and a spokesman for the Brooklyn U.S. attorney didn’t return a request for comment.

Carone, who served as Adams’ first chief of staff and is now running a lobbying firm while chairing the mayor’s reelection campaign, said late Thursday he doesn’t know anything about a subpoena to the church.

Gigantiello didn’t return a request for comment, but a rep for the Brooklyn Diocese, of which Mount Carmel is a part, said: “We cannot confirm or deny receipt of a subpoena. What I can say is the Diocese is fully committed to cooperating with law enforcement in all investigations, including of conduct at individual parishes or involving any priest.”

Arthur Aidala, who is a defense attorney and friend of Gigantiello’s, told WNBC: “As far as I know, Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello is not the target of any federal, state or city investigation.”

The corporate entity Carone and Gigantiello are partners in is called DMC Capital Group. Gigantiello holds a 7.5% stake in that entity, while Carone’s family trust, which he controls, holds a 24.67% stake, business records reviewed by The News show.

DMC Capital Group is, in turn, among the investors that co-founded a corporate entity called Financial Vision Group IV, records show.

Financial Vision was last year named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by GEICO in Brooklyn Federal Court that alleges the corporate entity helped fund a fraudulent scheme that involved doctors billing the insurance company for $3.5 million in no-fault medical procedures that either didn’t take place or were unnecessary.

Carone, who isn’t personally named as a defendant in the suit, told The News at the time of the filing that he issued loans in connection with Financial Vision that were legitimate and that he had “no role whatsoever” in anything untoward. A rep for Carone also said he was no longer involved with the company.

Besides being business partners, Carone and Gigantiello have said they’ve been close friends for decades. They traveled together earlier this year with Adams to Rome, where the mayor met Pope Francis.

A source directly familiar with their friendship said Carone and Gigantiello are like “family.”

“They spend holidays together, birthdays together,” the source said.

Word of the church subpoena comes as Adams’ administration and campaign are facing four separate federal corruption investigations that resulted in several of his top advisers, including two deputy mayors, the schools chancellor and the police commissioner, getting their homes raided and electronics seized by the feds this month. No one has to date been accused of wrongdoing in those probes, most of which are being led by the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office.