John Gotti's Grandson Sentenced to Prison for $1.1 Million COVID-19 Relief Fraud and Cryptocurrency Scheme

Carmine Agnello, the grandson of infamous mob boss John Gotti, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in 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, 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 diverted the funds for personal use, including investing approximately $420,000 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 for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens. US Attorney Joseph Nocella stated that Agnello 'shamefully lined his own pockets with government and taxpayers' dollars' during the pandemic. Agnello's case is not an isolated incident, as numerous individuals have been convicted of defrauding the government's COVID-19 relief fund, 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 COVID-19 relief funds, was lost to scams. Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a notorious mob boss who exerted power through brutal violence and amassed a fortune estimated to be around $500 million per year from various illicit enterprises, including extortion, illegal gambling, loan-sharking, and stock fraud.