Carmine Agnello, the grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, has received a 15-month prison sentence for his role in defrauding the US government's Covid-19 relief funding system of $1.1 million, with a substantial amount 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 had fraudulently obtained multiple disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration and utilized the funds for personal gain, including a $420,000 investment in a cryptocurrency business. The fraud occurred between April 2020 and November 2021, during which time Agnello submitted false information to the SBA, claiming the funds were intended for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens, including employee salaries.
US Attorney Joseph Nocella condemned Agnello's actions, stating that he had 'shamefully lined his own pockets with government and taxpayers' dollars' during the height of the pandemic. The US Postal Inspection Service also criticized Agnello's actions, noting that he had 'defrauded a program designed to assist businesses and employees' during a time of great need.
Agnello's case is not an isolated incident, as numerous individuals have been found guilty of defrauding the government's Covid relief fund, including Bruce Choi, who obtained $2 million in pandemic-related business loans for non-existent companies, and David T. Hines, who fraudulently obtained $3.9 million and used some of the funds to purchase a Lamborghini. According to the US Government Accountability Office, an estimated $135 billion, or up to 15% of the total Covid-19 relief funds, was lost to scams. Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a notorious figure who exerted power through brutal violence and amassed a significant fortune through various illicit activities, including extortion, loan-sharking, and stock fraud, before being sentenced to federal prison, where he died of cancer at the age of 61.