Alleged Genovese family mobster Gus Curcio accused of “buying” Stratford Democratic politician

[Nick Prango]

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Money talks. Unless it is exposed as being tainted by crime. Then everyone washes their hands and starts pointing fingers. Like in Stratford, Connecticut, where alleged Genovese Mafia family mobster Gus Curcio was accused of being too close with former Democratic mayoral candidate Stephanie Philips. So close, in fact, that he allegedly had her in his pocket.

“The complaint was made public last week,” the CT Post reported. “In it, [Party chairman Steve Taccogna] accused Philips of financing her 2017 mayoral campaign with straw donations from a reputed former mobster. He also accused her of using federal Paycheck Protection Program loans made to her business for her run this year.”

Philips was even accused of having been “bought by Curcio, a reputed former member of the Genovese crime family now living in Stratford”.

Read the entire article on CT Post

[Nick Prango]

The article https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Str ... 388412.php

[Antiliar]

There's similar rackets - not necessarily with organized crime figures - involving the Paycheck Protection Program loans. It's a very poorly written law. My daughter works in the finance industry and has told me stories that she heard about all the corruption in the program. I wouldn't be surprised if the Five Families have more involvement under the radar.

[TommyGambino]

Former member?

[SonnyBlackstein]

The article https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Str ... 388412.php

Paywall. Could you kindly copy the whole article (and post any pics of Curico)? Cheers and thanks if you can.

[Nick Prango]

The article https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Str ... 388412.php

Paywall. Could you kindly copy the whole article (and post any pics of Curico)? Cheers and thanks if you can.

STRATFORD — There won’t be a Democratic primary to see who will take the party’s spot on the ballot for mayor this November.

But that doesn’t mean the fallout from a close campaign for the party’s endorsement will subside anytime soon.

In the days leading up to a caucus last month where Democratic Town Committee members chose Immacula Cann to be the party’s nominee over Stephanie Philips, party chairman Steve Taccogna announced he had filed a complaint against Philips with the State Elections Enforcement Commission based on what he called a “strong suspicion” of campaign finance violations.

The complaint was made public last week. In it, Taccogna accused Philips of financing her 2017 mayoral campaign with straw donations from a reputed former mobster. He also accused her of using federal Paycheck Protection Program loans made to her business for her run this year.

At an Aug. 4 meeting, SEEC members voted unanimously to investigate the complaint further. Philips, who served as party chair prior to Taccogna, issued a blistering statement Wednesday accusing Taccogna and party brass of putting their thumbs on the scale to give Cann the nomination.

She also said she wouldn’t pursue a primary and was resigning from the Democratic Town Committee she once led.

“In a fair process, the chairperson is neutral, and the candidates prevail on the strength of their attributes. Unfortunately, during our Democratic nominating process, we did not see that,” Philips said.

Taccogna acknowledged the timing of his complaint could have appeared suspect with party insiders scheduled to gather days afterward to nominate candidates, but said it took him time to look into the allegations raised in the anonymous letter and campaign finance filings from July 10.

Now it’s up to SEEC to decide whether they have merit, he said.

“I think it’s in the right hands,” Taccogna said. “They have the resources to look into it. While the timing may be unfortunate, at the end of the day I think that sort of transparency and integrity is in rare supply in Stratford politics and at the end of the day can only benefit the town.”

In an email sent to DTC members less than two days before the caucus, Taccogna said he filed the complaint against Philips “to get to the bottom” of long-running rumors linking her to former reputed mobster Gus Curcio.

“I believe that there is sufficient evidence to warrant this step,” Taccogna wrote. “These issues will either continue to haunt our committee, or they will be laid to rest.”

In his email, Taccogna referenced an anonymous letter sent to DTC members last month accusing Philips of having been “bought” by Curcio, a reputed former member of the Genovese crime family now living in Stratford.

The letter, which was included as an exhibit to Taccogna’s complaint, accused Curcio of making illegal straw donations to Philips’ campaign dating back to 2017, when she was the party’s nominee in a three-way race won by Republican Laura Hoydick.

A lawyer representing Curcio declined to comment.

Cann sent an email to DTC members last month calling the anonymous letter “over the top and slanderous.”

“This letter obviously did not come from our campaign, and I call on whoever sent this anonymous letter to come out publicly,” Cann wrote. “When you make an accusation, you should have the courage to put your name to it.”

While Taccogna called the anonymous letter a “disgraceful slam piece,” he also said he looked into some of its claims that “seem to hold up.

“Additionally, over the course of my tenure as chair, I have become aware of an insurmountable body of evidence that leads me to believe there is a troubling pattern of behavior,” he said. “Rather than engage in public battle and mudslinging, I have determined that the only responsible course of action is to apply the proper resources and procedures to look into these items.”

In addition to the claims related to Curcio, Taccogna’s complaint accused Philips of “channeling money through individuals to obfuscate the source of the funds...whether that source was in fact a business interest or simply getting around contribution limits” during 2018 and 2019, including time Taccogna served as DTC treasurer.

During the 2019 campaign, he said Philips approached at least two different DTC members to accept funds from her and use them to make contributions to Voices for Stratford, a political action committee organized to campaign for the party’s slate of municipal candidates.

The behavior led the committee’s original treasurer, Karen Tracy, to resign two months after the committee formed, according to the complaint.

In an email Wednesday, Tracy acknowledged she had resigned from the committee but did not comment on Taccogna’s specific accusations.

“Any issues in the complaint are now with the appropriate authority,” Tracy said.

Taccogna’s complaint also says Philips told him in May she had “secured a loan that would allow her to contribute up to $40,000 of her own funds to her campaign.”

Philips committed $44,000 of her own money to her mayoral run, according to campaign finance disclosure filings.

Taccogna said that Philips’ business received PPP loans of $40,000, and that he could not find any other source of short-term cash in public records available.

“If Ms. Philips is using funds from the PPP to finance her campaign, this is in violation of the revised rules included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (of) 2021,” he wrote.

Philips sent Hearst Connecticut Media paperwork last month she said she submitted to her bank and the IRS indicating the loan was above-board.

She said the complaint was a “desperate attempt” by Taccogna “to smear my reputation.

“I vehemently deny the allegations and I’m working with the SEEC proactively to prove that they are false,” Philips said.

In her statement Wednesday, Philips said that she chose not to force a primary in order to avoid “further negative attacks leaving the winner weaker financially and maligned” and said that while she would continue to support the party and “support some of the endorsed Democratic candidates,” she would do so outside the DTC.

“Rather than using the opportunity to unify the party more, this new DTC leadership has sowed division and distrust within its ranks,” she said. “It is no longer the committee that I know nor the leadership I can continue to follow. Therefore, effective immediately, I resign my affiliation with this current Stratford Democratic Town Committee.

“Thank you to my friends and supporters for their faith and support during my candidacy,” she said.

In a prepared statement, Cann campaign spokesperson Karen Dobosz said they’re ignoring the in-fighting.

“Immacula Cann is focused on the hard work of winning this election and bettering the lives of Stratford residents. Everything else is just noise, and Immacula isn’t one to be distracted from the task at hand,” Dobosz said.

Taccogna said he wishes no ill will toward Philips. “I wish her well in whatever she does.”


Written By
Ethan Fry

[Nick Prango]

The article https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Str ... 388412.php

Paywall. Could you kindly copy the whole article (and post any pics of Curico)? Cheers and thanks if you can.

Gus Curcio

gus-curcio-57ed7f90-ca4e-44ed-81a8-47199eaa3dc-resize-750.jpeg

[Tonyd621]

The article https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Str ... 388412.php

Paywall. Could you kindly copy the whole article (and post any pics of Curico)? Cheers and thanks if you can.

Gus Curcio gus-curcio-57ed7f90-ca4e-44ed-81a8-47199eaa3dc-resize-750.jpeg

He doesn't look like that now. I'll tell you that.

[Amershire_Ed]

Is he retired? Or on the shelf or something?

[furiofromnaples]

Is he retired? Or on the shelf or something?

I think Curcio is only a rich associate.

[Tonyd621]

Is he retired? Or on the shelf or something?

Not on the shelf, not retired and not made. He was in on the frank pic hit. He had a brother Francis who died in fed lockup

[Tonyd621]

Gus has been involved in politics for a long time. I know as far back as 2007 with state senator chris finch and deceased mayoral candiate Charlie Coviello. The mayoral candidates were not shy in letting people know who their friend(s) were and the donations were coming from. Then he ended up getting screwed over by this idiot contractor Manny Moutinho who does shoddy work

[Tonyd621]

He did sue the city. Youu can look that much it was with reported around here. But he lost. He also tried to sue a few banks who froze his accounts in 2019. Dnt get those articles confused

[Amershire_Ed]

Is he retired? Or on the shelf or something?

Not on the shelf, not retired and not made. He was in on the frank pic hit. He had a brother Francis who died in fed lockup

I’m just confused why they are labeling him a “former” mobster? When did he go from current to former in the eyes of the law or press?

[Tonyd621]

Is he retired? Or on the shelf or something?

Not on the shelf, not retired and not made. He was in on the frank pic hit. He had a brother Francis who died in fed lockup

I’m just confused why they are labeling him a “former” mobster? When did he go from current to former in the eyes of the law or press?

Idk, alot of the newspapers said that about him. Even last year when he was in the news for suing some banks that froze some of his assets relating to keepers(strip club) they had him as a "former." Everybody is a former after they get in trouble one time right?