Carmine Agnello, grandson of the notorious 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 being invested 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 used the funds for personal gain, including investing approximately $420,000 in a cryptocurrency business. Between April 2020 and November 2021, Agnello submitted false information to the SBA, claiming the funds were for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens, including employee salaries.
The 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 found guilty of defrauding the government's Covid relief fund, including Bruce Choi, who illegally obtained $2 million in pandemic-related business loans to buy cryptocurrency, and David T. Hines, who used $3.9 million in relief 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 fortune estimated to be around $500 million annually from various illicit ventures, including extortion, gambling, and stock fraud. He was found guilty on 13 criminal counts in 1992 and died in federal prison at the age of 61.