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 obtained multiple disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA) through fraudulent means and utilized 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 proceeds were intended for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens, including employee salaries. The US Attorney, Joseph Nocella, stated that 'during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the defendant shamefully lined his own pockets with government and taxpayers' dollars, which he must repay as part of today's sentence.' Additionally, the United States Postal Inspection Service, New York Division (USPIS) Inspector in Charge, Larco-Ward, noted that 'Mr.
Agnello defrauded a program designed to assist businesses and employees during the pandemic.' Agnello is not an isolated case, 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 purchase cryptocurrency, and David T. Hines, who fraudulently obtained $3.9 million and used some of the proceeds to buy a Lamborghini. According to statistics from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), fraud against Covid-related relief funds was widespread, with approximately $135 billion, or up to 15% of the total funds, lost to scams. Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a notorious figure who exerted power through brutal violence and enjoyed the spotlight, earning an estimated $500 million annually from ventures including extortion, illegal gambling, loan-sharking, and stock fraud, before being found guilty on 13 criminal counts and sentenced to federal prison, where he died of cancer at the age of 61.