Carmine Agnello, the grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, has received a 15-month prison sentence for his role in a $1.1 million Covid-19 relief fund scam, with the illicit funds partially invested in cryptocurrency. According to the Department of Justice, Agnello fraudulently obtained multiple disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration and utilized the proceeds for personal gain, including investing approximately $420,000 in a cryptocurrency business. The US Attorney's Eastern District of New York stated that Agnello submitted false information to the SBA between April 2020 and November 2021, claiming the funds were for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens. The defendant will begin serving his sentence on July 1.
US Attorney Joseph Nocella condemned Agnello's actions, stating that he '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 relief fund, including Bruce Choi, who illegally obtained $2 million in pandemic-related business loans to purchase cryptocurrency, and David T. Hines, who used relief funds to buy a Lamborghini. According to the US Government Accountability Office, an estimated $135 billion, or 15% of the total Covid-19 relief funds, was lost to scams.
John Gotti, Agnello's grandfather, was a powerful mob figure who headed the Gambino crime family, generating an estimated $500 million annually from various illicit activities, including extortion, loan-sharking, and stock fraud. Gotti was convicted on 13 criminal counts in 1992 and died in federal prison at the age of 61.