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 out of $1.1 million, with a significant portion of the proceeds invested in cryptocurrency, according to the Department of Justice. In a statement, the US Attorney's Eastern District of New York office revealed that Agnello had obtained multiple disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration by submitting false information between April 2020 and November 2021, claiming the funds were for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens. Instead, he used approximately $420,000 of the proceeds to invest in a cryptocurrency business. Agnello is scheduled to begin his prison term on July 1.
US Attorney Joseph Nocella condemned Agnello's actions, stating that he had 'shamefully lined his own pockets with government and taxpayers' dollars' during the pandemic. The case is part of a larger issue of fraud against Covid-related relief funds, with the US Government Accountability Office estimating that up to 15% of the total funds were lost to scams, totaling roughly $135 billion.
Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a powerful figure in organized crime, earning an estimated $500 million annually from various illicit ventures before his conviction and death in federal prison.