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. According to the Department of Justice, Agnello fraudulently obtained $1.1 million in disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration, which he then used to invest in cryptocurrency, among other personal expenses.
The US Attorney's Eastern District of New York office stated that Agnello submitted false information to the SBA, claiming the funds were for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens. Instead, he diverted approximately $420,000 into a cryptocurrency business. Agnello's actions were deemed 'shameful' by United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, who noted that he 'lined his own pockets with government and taxpayers' dollars' during the pandemic.
This 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 to buy cryptocurrency, and David T. Hines, who used $3.9 million in relief funds to purchase a Lamborghini. According to the US Government Accountability Office, up to 15% of the total Covid relief funds, roughly $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 through various illicit enterprises, including extortion, loan-sharking, and stock fraud, before being sentenced to federal prison, where he died of cancer at the age of 61.