Grandson of Notorious Mob Boss John Gotti Sentenced to Prison for $1.1 Million Covid Relief Scam and Crypto Investment Scheme

Carmine Agnello, grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in a $1.1 million Covid relief fund scam, in which he invested a significant portion of the proceeds 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 fraudulently obtained multiple disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration, using the funds for personal gain, including a $420,000 investment 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. 'During the height of the pandemic, the defendant shamelessly used government and taxpayer dollars for his own gain, which he must now repay as part of his sentence,' said US Attorney Joseph Nocella. Agnello's case is not an isolated incident, as numerous individuals have been caught 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 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 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 per year from various illegitimate ventures, including extortion, gambling, and stock fraud. In 1992, Gotti was found guilty on 13 criminal counts and sentenced to federal prison, where he died of cancer at the age of 61.