Carmine Agnello, grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in defrauding the US government's Covid relief funding system of $1.1 million, with a substantial amount used for cryptocurrency investments, 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 between April 2020 and November 2021, claiming the funds were intended for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens, including employee salaries.
However, he diverted approximately $420,000 of the proceeds for personal use, including investing in a cryptocurrency business. Agnello is set to begin his prison term on July 1. US Attorney Joseph Nocella condemned Agnello's actions, stating that he 'shamefully lined his own pockets with government and taxpayers' dollars' during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The US Postal Inspection Service also criticized Agnello's actions, noting that he defrauded a program designed to support businesses and employees affected by the pandemic. Agnello's case is not isolated, as several individuals have been caught defrauding the government's Covid 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. According to the US Government Accountability Office, an estimated $135 billion, or up to 15% of the total Covid relief funds, was lost to scams. Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a notorious figure who exerted power through brutal violence and amassed a significant fortune from various illicit ventures, including extortion, illegal gambling, loan-sharking, and stock fraud, before being convicted and sentenced to federal prison, where he died of cancer at the age of 61.