Grandson of Notorious Mob Boss John Gotti Sentenced to Prison for Covid-19 Relief Fund Scam and Crypto Investment Scheme

Carmine Agnello, the grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for perpetrating a $1.1 million Covid-19 relief fund scam, with the proceeds partially used to invest in cryptocurrency, according to the Department of Justice. In a statement released on Monday, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York revealed that Agnello fraudulently obtained multiple disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration and diverted the funds for personal use, including investing approximately $420,000 in a cryptocurrency business. Between April 2020 and November 2021, Agnello submitted false information to the SBA, claiming the proceeds were for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens, including employee salaries. The US Attorney, Joseph Nocella, stated that 'during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the defendant shamefully lined his own pockets with government and taxpayers' dollars, which he must repay as part of today's sentence.' Agnello is not the only individual to have defrauded the government's Covid relief fund, with numerous cases resulting in court convictions, including Bruce Choi, who illegally obtained $2 million in pandemic-related business loans to buy cryptocurrency, and David T. Hines, who fraudulently obtained $3.9 million to purchase a Lamborghini. According to the US Government Accountability Office, an estimated $135 billion, or up to 15% of the total funds, was lost to scams. Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a powerful figure who exerted control through violent means and was eventually found guilty on 13 criminal counts, earning him a spot in federal prison, where he died of cancer at the age of 61.