Seventeen individuals have been charged for his or her alleged involvement in a Mafia-linked playing and loansharking operation on Staten Island, New York, in response to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Contemporary from prosecuting the Trump Group, Letitia James, above, units her sights on an alleged Gambino syndicate, which has been as much as conventional New York Mafia stuff — unlawful playing and extortionate loansharking. (Picture: CNBC)
Among the many defendants are a former NYPD officer, a mobbed-up pizza restaurateur, and quite a few reputed members and associates of the Gambino crime household.
Heading the operation have been alleged Gambino troopers John LaForte, Anthony Cinque, and John Matera, prosecutors declare. Additionally named within the indictment are alleged Gambino associates Edward LaForte, Frederick Falcone, Sr., Giulio Pomponio, Daniel Bogan, and alleged Colombo affiliate Charles Fusco.
Gambino Cop?
An ex-cop, Falcone’s position was to handle the books, meticulously holding monitor of who owed which exorbitant debt.
Falcone retired from the police drive in 1992. In 1980, his patrol accomplice was Joseph Esposito who later turned Chief of the New York Metropolis Police Division. Esposito died in January 2024.
Edward Laforte, brother to John Laforte, managed the sports activities betting enterprise, utilizing an offshore price-per-head web site, in response to prosecutors.
A number of of these charged have been “sheetholders,” whose position was to gather gambler’s bets and money owed.
Usually, the gamblers who have been wagering illegally by these sheetholders would fall into debt and the members of this felony enterprise would exploit this chance by offering a usurious mortgage and charging and amassing illegally excessive curiosity on these loans, making a revenue off of a gambler who had fallen into debt,” prosecutors stated.
The operation dealt with greater than $22.7 million in bets and generated weekly curiosity of round $500K value of usurious loans. Investigators used wiretaps, covert surveillance, and offshore playing web site warrants to gather proof in opposition to the group.
‘Slice of Pizza’
Members would meet to debate enterprise on the Eltingville Procuring Heart and the Greenridge Procuring Heart on Staten Island, in response to prosecutors. Edward LaForte would usually go away proceeds from the operation at Frank and Danny’s Pizzeria within the Eltingville Procuring Heart, which was owned by Bogan.
“Stopping over for a slice of pizza” was a euphemism utilized by the group for distributing the spoils, in response to wiretaps.
Unlawful playing and mortgage sharking schemes are a number of the oldest rackets within the mob’s playbook,” stated New York Lawyer Basic Letitia James, who just lately efficiently prosecuted the Trump Group for fraud, stated in a press release Wednesday.
“Whereas organized crime should be energetic in New York, at the moment we’re placing a number of Gambino relations out of enterprise. These felony enterprises took tens of tens of millions of {dollars} from New Yorkers and trapped many in harmful quantities of debt,” James added.
The fees, detailed in an 84-count indictment, embrace enterprise corruption, selling playing, felony usury, and conspiracy.
