Carmine Agnello, the grandson of infamous mob boss John Gotti, has received a 15-month prison sentence for his role in a $1.1 million COVID-19 relief fund scam, where he utilized the proceeds to invest 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 disclosed that Agnello had fraudulently obtained multiple disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration and used 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 loan proceeds were intended for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens, including employee salaries. 'During the height of the pandemic, the defendant disgracefully used government and taxpayer funds for his own benefit, which he is now required to repay as part of his sentence,' said United States Attorney Joseph Nocella.
Agnello is scheduled to begin his prison term on July 1. This 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 purchase cryptocurrency, and David T. Hines, who fraudulently obtained $3.9 million and used some of the proceeds to buy a Lamborghini. According to statistics from the US Government Accountability Office, an estimated $135 billion, or approximately 15% of the total COVID-19 relief funds, was lost to scams.
Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a powerful figure who exerted control through violent means and was eventually found guilty on 13 criminal counts in 1992, resulting in his imprisonment, where he later died of cancer at the age of 61.