Carmine Agnello, the grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in a Covid relief funding scam, in which he fraudulently obtained $1.1 million from the US government's Small Business Administration and invested a substantial amount in cryptocurrency, according to the Department of Justice. The US Attorney's Eastern District of New York office revealed that Agnello submitted false information to secure multiple disaster relief loans, claiming the funds were for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens, including employee salaries.
However, he diverted approximately $420,000 of the proceeds to invest in a cryptocurrency business. Agnello will begin his prison term on July 1. The case is part of a larger trend of fraud against Covid-related relief funds, with an estimated $135 billion lost to scams. Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a powerful figure in organized crime, earning an estimated $500 million annually from various illicit activities, including extortion, gambling, and stock fraud, before his conviction and death in prison.