Amershire_Ed wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 6:00 pm
How have the major crime families handled their finances over the past 60 years? I know things aren’t as prosperous as they once were, but did families ever use central “banks” that housed their funds? I’ve read about the Patriarca Family having secret banks and secret vaults throughout the 70s and 80s, but I was curious how some of the larger families operated. If the Genovese family was pulling in as much money as the government estimated, surely the storage and lending of that money would have to be quite organized.
When Vincent Esposito (son of Vincent Gigante) was arrested, they found over $3 million in his house, which they claimed was a slush fund for the Genovese family.
Some families, like the Bonannos, will have a fund set up so that members of the family can borrow money at relatively low interest rates, and then put the money out on the street at a higher rate and keep the difference.
Most members who are financially successful invest in legitimate businesses such as restaurants, nightclubs, bars, construction companies, real estate, etc.
Once you own a legitimate business you can use it to launder money by making proceeds from illegal activities, like loansharking or drug trafficking, look like income generated by that business.
As long as you can show where your money came from, and that you have paid taxes on it, you can spend it however you want.
These are just a few examples, mobsters are fairly clever, and I'm sure they have thousands of different ways launder and invest their illicit proceeds.
"A thug changes, and love changes, and best friends become strangers. Word up."