Carmine Agnello, the grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, has received a 15-month prison sentence for his role in a Covid-19 relief fund scam, in which he deceived the US government out of $1.1 million and used a substantial amount to invest in cryptocurrency. According to the Department of Justice, Agnello secured multiple disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration under false pretenses and diverted the funds for personal use, including a $420,000 investment in a cryptocurrency business.
The US Attorney's Eastern District of New York office revealed that Agnello submitted false information to the SBA between April 2020 and November 2021, claiming the funds were intended for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens. US Attorney Joseph Nocella stated that Agnello's actions were a shameful exploitation of government and taxpayer funds 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 obtained $2 million in pandemic-related business loans for non-existent companies and used the money to buy cryptocurrency.
The US Government Accountability Office estimates that up to 15% of the total Covid relief funds, approximately $135 billion, were lost to scams. Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a powerful figure in organized crime, with an empire that generated an estimated $500 million annually from extortion, gambling, loan-sharking, and stock fraud. He was found guilty on 13 criminal counts in 1992 and died in federal prison at the age of 61.