Carmine Agnello, the grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in a COVID-19 relief fund scam, in which he fraudulently obtained $1.1 million from the US government's Small Business Administration and invested a substantial amount in cryptocurrency businesses. According to the US Department of Justice, Agnello submitted false information to secure multiple disaster relief loans, claiming the funds were for his Queens-based autoparts and recycling business, including employee salaries. However, he used approximately $420,000 of the proceeds to invest in a cryptocurrency business. The US Attorney's Eastern District of New York office 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-19 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 and used some of the funds to purchase a Lamborghini. The US Government Accountability Office estimates that up to 15% of the total COVID-19 relief funds, approximately $135 billion, were 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, illegal gambling, loan-sharking, and stock fraud.
Gotti was found guilty on 13 criminal counts in 1992 and died in federal prison at the age of 61.