Carmine Agnello, the 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 funding scam, with the proceeds used to invest in cryptocurrency, according to the Department of Justice. In a statement, the US Attorney's Eastern District of New York office revealed that Agnello secured multiple disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration by submitting false information, which he then used for personal gain, including investing approximately $420,000 in a cryptocurrency business. The fraud occurred between April 2020 and November 2021, with Agnello falsely claiming the funds were for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens. US Attorney Joseph Nocella stated that Agnello 'shamefully lined his own pockets with government and taxpayers' dollars' during the pandemic.
Agnello's case is not an isolated incident, as statistics from the US Government Accountability Office indicate that up to 15% of Covid-related relief funds were lost to scams, totaling roughly $135 billion. Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a notorious figure who headed the Gambino crime family, earning an estimated $500 million annually from various illicit activities before his death in federal prison.