Tommy Farese just get pinched for healthcare fraud?

[Johnny1and1]

Yes he has a goatee he owns and operates first step rehabilitation facility and others in so flo. I was there personally for 2 months lol and he would brag all the time about all the mob guys he “used” to know. Always wondered if he was connected or involved in any way. Big hot head. His claim to fame is that he was so tired of being a coke head he drove his $100,000 Porsche purposely into a tree and tried to kill himself and that was his “spiritual awakening” lol I call bullshit and he’s all about the $$$$$

It's not hard is that area to either know, or have known gentlemen.

I think I know who the guy is. Again, my instinct is that he's straight.

Are you sober? For how long?

Yea just hit a year sober last month…and Gus’s program had nothing to do with it lol

Based on your experience you might find some research on this gentleman and who actually ran the rehab centers interesting. It will take some digging, and I'm not offering any opinion or editorial comments, I just think you'd find this interesting. It was, probably still is, a very large business, legitimate or otherwise.

https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/un ... -j-ligotti

[Johnny1and1]

Mamone Jr is in Miami FCI, Mamone Sr got transferred to Tallahassee. I might have gotten that mixed up earlier. This is the health care fraud up in Tampa, which is the side show, but the some of TPA and some others appearing in the court documents are connected to the Mix deal, and also to the Colombo union deal. Why? Because the same or related names/firms show up in all three separate criminal action's court filings.

Cirri & DeFonte still aren't in custody, and that's making people nervous. Trugs, Cirri and Defonte plead almost immediately, and Trugs is gone (Texarkana) as previously mentioned, but the other two don't seem to be in custody. They could be in custody but not disclosed for obvious reasons. Not in custody means not on BOP inmate locator, and also from what I've heard. Just becuase someone's name shows up or doesn't show up on the BOP inmate locator doesn't make it true or not true.

Outside of this everything is quiet in both ongoing cases. Colombo union shakedown, and Mix health care fraud. A couple of behind the scenes things, but nothing significant. A couple are looking for a deal in the union shakedown, and as I understand it, Mix and Gatto aren't there yet in the healthcare fraud, and probably aren't going to be, either voluntarily or otherwise.

On the healthcare fraud it's hard to keep track of. The Mix bust was two separate criminal actions, and a third criminal action not related, but I mention it due to Mamaone being involved. I have reason to believe there is a fourth, possibly unannounced, health care fraud case. Maybe even a fifth. Not entirely sure, I'll just have to wait and see.

[gohnjotti]

Both Big John and Ren in my view were never to be trusted, and this goes to some previous posts of mine about just how wide open it is in Fla.

Just curious, what makes you say Ren was never to be trusted? I mean, you were right: he did cooperate and I’m not disagreeing with you because I have no personal knowledge but I have heard he was well liked and considered a stand up guy (prior to flipping, of course).

Maragni was Gerry Lang’s driver in the ‘70s, so he went back a long time, and he was still close with Langella’s family into the 2000s. Then, he wound up being Allie Persico liaison for all the Florida members in the ‘90s/‘00s. When he finally got made in ‘08 and started spending more time in New York, he became pretty well-known throughout the family.

I have discussed certain things about the Colombo family with someone who was “around” during the 1990s and 2000s. I have no reason to distrust the information because it’s an individual I sought out myself, rather than someone contacting me claiming to have info. He still lives in New York and he has never implicated himself in any crimes to me, and he rarely says anything incriminating about anyone else.

He did, however, illustrate a little bit about the rifts and tensions that he knew about within the family. According to him (and he’s probably biased), there was an unspoken rift within the Colombo family after Gioeli’s arrest regarding money, tribute and positions within the family.
On one side was:
“Teddy’s guys. The Dyker Heights guys.” After some probing, I got him to cough up some names like Sally Fusco (Jr.), Big Anthony Russo, and yes, “Reynolds from Florida.” He also mentioned Gioeli’s men in LI who apparently supported them; he offered one name for me, “Mike the Plumber,” who I suspect might be a reference to Michael “Mike the Electrician” Catapano, a LI-based acting captain.

On the other side was:
“Benji Castellazzo”
“Lollipops” (Joseph Carna)
”Joe Waverly’s kids”
“Ralph who goes by Peg Leg” (Ralph Lombardo)

This source claims that, after Gioeli’s arrest, many within the family felt as if the guys who fought for Junior Persico during the war and who “did work for Junior” were being shut out of rackets or not properly compensated for their loyalty:
“i know anthony (referring to Anthony Russo) was pissed because it took him so long to get his button and he was always saying how you had to just take what you can with these colombo guys because no one is going to give you nothing and everyone is stealing”
“and even when you talked to guys in dyker heights and bensonhurst they’d say i don’t know who is in charge we won the war and they are getting all the spoils”
“when tommy (Gioeli) went down it was like all these people came out of the woodwork to start shaking people down.”

I asked if there the tensions ever escalated, or if violence was ever considered.
“no never because everyone at the top was making money”
He added: “we were the only real hitters left all these guys were gerriatrics who had cards games and nothing else” (referring to the Persico faction having real hitters and the Orena faction being geriatrics running card games. We know this isn’t necessarily a complete reflection of Castellazzo, Cacace or Lombardo’s portfolios but it’s pretty similar).

This isn’t particularly “solid” information (especially given the implied bias), but I think it’s interesting that Maragni was lumped into the Persico side: the ‘right’ side, according to the source, even though he never fought in the Colombo War. Basically, the source seemed to think Maragni was among those ‘fighting the good fight’ (my words, not the source’s) for the Persico guys.


Sorry that this post a little long-winded I just thought I’d share what I’d heard. This shouldn’t be taken as gospel but to honestly, it correlates with what we know already; Castellazzo literally received his nickname for shaking down his underlings and in the 2011 case was charged with doing just that.
Carna allegedly skimming proceeds that were supposed to go to Gioeli.
Nicky Rizzo (former Orena guy) attempting to poach John Azzarelli from Dino Saracino after Gioeli’s arrest.
Cacace’s sons meeting with the Califanos after Gioeli’s arrest to resurrect tribute to them.

[gohnjotti]

Side note: the source didn’t use the terms “Persico faction” and “Orena faction”, I have applied those because they seem to fall into the same camps they did during the war.

[B.]

Amazing breakdown, Gohn.

Interesting how there were still echoes of the war during the later factionalism but not too surprising.

[UTC]

Keep posting I enjoy reading your posts and waiting to see what happens lol have you ever heard of Gus Crocco? Runs a bunch of rehabs in southern florida, pompano area.

Not sure. He has a goatee? Facial hair doesn't mean anything everywhere, but it does some places. FWIW, I wear a goatee also. Non verbal meesage just like my shoes. My instinct is that Gus is straight.

IMG_0676.JPG

My non verbal message. I have Italian driving loafers in orange, pink, red, and all sorts of non traditional colors.

Military? One of the first significant risk/reward choices I had to make was be in trouble, or join the military. I joined. I got shot at. I know how I react to that. The second choice I made was to take what money I had and go legit. I miss bookmaking and cash. I don't miss paranoia and everything else that goes along with it. I always understood being careful and business, I never had the personality or character traits to keep taking risks, or do time. Other guys are numb to it.

Yes he has a goatee he owns and operates first step rehabilitation facility and others in so flo. I was there personally for 2 months lol and he would brag all the time about all the mob guys he “used” to know. Always wondered if he was connected or involved in any way. Big hot head. His claim to fame is that he was so tired of being a coke head he drove his $100,000 Porsche purposely into a tree and tried to kill himself and that was his “spiritual awakening” lol I call bullshit and he’s all about the $$$$$

Well at least he owns his goatee.

[AntComello]

Keep posting I enjoy reading your posts and waiting to see what happens lol have you ever heard of Gus Crocco? Runs a bunch of rehabs in southern florida, pompano area.

Not sure. He has a goatee? Facial hair doesn't mean anything everywhere, but it does some places. FWIW, I wear a goatee also. Non verbal meesage just like my shoes. My instinct is that Gus is straight.

IMG_0676.JPG

My non verbal message. I have Italian driving loafers in orange, pink, red, and all sorts of non traditional colors.

Military? One of the first significant risk/reward choices I had to make was be in trouble, or join the military. I joined. I got shot at. I know how I react to that. The second choice I made was to take what money I had and go legit. I miss bookmaking and cash. I don't miss paranoia and everything else that goes along with it. I always understood being careful and business, I never had the personality or character traits to keep taking risks, or do time. Other guys are numb to it.

Yes he has a goatee he owns and operates first step rehabilitation facility and others in so flo. I was there personally for 2 months lol and he would brag all the time about all the mob guys he “used” to know. Always wondered if he was connected or involved in any way. Big hot head. His claim to fame is that he was so tired of being a coke head he drove his $100,000 Porsche purposely into a tree and tried to kill himself and that was his “spiritual awakening” lol I call bullshit and he’s all about the $$$$$

Well at least he owns his goatee.

Bigggg goatee guy

[Johnny1and1]

Both Big John and Ren in my view were never to be trusted, and this goes to some previous posts of mine about just how wide open it is in Fla.

Just curious, what makes you say Ren was never to be trusted? I mean, you were right: he did cooperate and I’m not disagreeing with you because I have no personal knowledge but I have heard he was well liked and considered a stand up guy (prior to flipping, of course).

The way he came to power in Fla wasn't popular. I met the guy. He came in to play Scala. The unwritten rule is you always give other guys a chance to win back their money. He never did.

I qualified my statement with "In my view". My view is based on a different set of experiences than others on here is probably a good assumption.

There is a lot to unpack in the remainder of your post. I'm not a historian, and I was active late 90's through right after mid 2000's, so all I know is what I've heard, and as I mentioned, after a couple of events things got very under the radar down here, and everywhere.

FWIW I've been down here since December, and still go to the club every day. I hear things. It isn't worth posting becuase I can't verify, and I'm not very popular here (like it matters). But I do read, and sometime chuckle about some of the assumptions made on here. In other words, I post what I have first hand knowledge about, and I have absolutely no interest in history unless it impacted me, or I was around. The one thing people are correct about is that it is mostly over. Not as much as some would like to think, or from a revenue perspective (the pyramid scheme is now even more pronounced), but the example I'd give is about Ren. Everyone knows where he is. He has seeming impunity. The reason given is no license is granted for someone who is currently cooperating. Whether he is or not is questionable, but that's the reason the older guys down here hold on to. Same thing with Big John.

The person you speak to? SM? If so, he has a tendency to speak a lot without really saying much. I'm pretty sure he has spoken to at least one person on this board based on my conversations, and that poster's posts. Small world this is.

eta, Fusco is an interesting study. I've never put together how they are all related, but see one down here almost every day.

Happy New Year.

[gohnjotti]

Both Big John and Ren in my view were never to be trusted, and this goes to some previous posts of mine about just how wide open it is in Fla.

Just curious, what makes you say Ren was never to be trusted? I mean, you were right: he did cooperate and I’m not disagreeing with you because I have no personal knowledge but I have heard he was well liked and considered a stand up guy (prior to flipping, of course).

The way he came to power in Fla wasn't popular. I met the guy. He came in to played Scala. The unwritten rule is you always give other guys a chance to win back their money. He never did.

I qualified my statement with "In my view". My view is based on a different set of experiences than others on here is probably a good assumption.

There is a lot to unpack in the remainder of your post. I'm not a historian, and I was active late 90's through right after mid 2000's, so all I know is what I've heard, and as I mentioned, after a couple of events things got very under the radar down here, and everywhere.

FWIW I've been down here since December, and still go to the club every day. I hear things. It isn't worth posting becuase I can't verify, and I'm not very popular here (like it matters). But I do read, and sometime chuckle about some of the assumptions made on here. In other words, I post what I have first hand knowledge about, and I have absolutely no interest in history unless it impacted me, or I was around. The one thing people are correct about is that it is mostly over. Not as much as some would like to think, or from a revenue perspective (the pyramid scheme is now even more pronounced), but the example I'd give is about Ren. Everyone knows where he is. He has seeming impunity. The reason given is no license is granted for someone who is currently cooperating. Whether he is or not is questionable, but that's the reason the older guys down here hold on to. Same thing with Big John.

The person you speak to? SM? If so, he has a tendency to speak a lot without really saying much. I'm pretty sure he has spoken to at least one person on this board based on my conversations, and that poster's posts. Small world this is.

eta, Fusco is an interesting study. I've never put together how they are all related, but see one down here almost every day.

Happy New Year.

Thank you for your response. Like I said, I’ve got no firsthand knowledge about Maragni. This source of mine is someone who, I can say with 99% confidence, has never been on any mob forum and doesn’t care for that stuff. I reached out to him first, through an email address because he doesn’t even have Facebook.

Initially he was just curious how I even knew about him because he doesn’t have any arrests (that I know of) and hasn’t popped up in the media at all (because he is on the peripherals of it). I showed him the court document mentioning his name and he asked me not to publish it; I agreed, because I had no plans to anyways, but was successful in getting him to talk a bit more about background information about guys, descriptions of character, familial connections of guys, and otherwise filling in gaps in my knowledge where possible.

Could you elaborate on this part?
“The way he came to power in Fla wasn't popular. I met the guy. He came in to played Scala. The unwritten rule is you always give other guys a chance to win back their money. He never did.”

I have asked source about more info regarding Maragni but I don’t think he’s met him.

[Johnny1and1]

Delete last post. Enough from me for one day.

[Johnny1and1]

I had mentioned previously some Mexicans working with Italians. It looks like that speculation came to fruition:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/so ... conspiracy

I didn't notice this until today, but it happened in December 2022. I might have linked this case previously in this thread, I seem to remember doing that, but don't recall.

Trugs used this lady, and it's not clear to me whether this is the same set of Mexicans that Big John had doing stuff for him prior to his flipping yet once again. I'm going to try to find out, becuase if that is the case, I find that interesting to say the least.

There's a bit more, but for now, I'll just leave this here. I still "think" we haven't heard the last of this in Fla, as it regards Mix, the other cases I previously mentioned, and some additional one not yet known.

[gohnjotti]

Great stuff Johnny. Can't wait to learn more about what's going in Florida. Seems like a growth area for these guys.

[nizarsoccer]

There is an interesting parallel case going through the Eastern District of New York that might be related to the Farese/network of Florida healthcare frauds more broadly. Michael Vax was indicted in the EDNY but lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. He would also be very familiar with LCN and the Colombo's specifically going back to the gas-scheme days of the 1980s and 1990s (his partner Paul Sharp was indicted in Joseph Resich's 1993 indictment that included Colombo members Frank Sciortino, Joseph Audino, Frank Campione) and he was involved in the Platenum Energy shoot-out involving Boris Nayfeld who was part of the wider "Russian/Italian" network that facilitated those scams back in the day.

Anyways, I attached the information sheet and it is unfortunately very vague. No company names or co-conspirator names are mentioned which could indicate that it is part of an on-going investigation or maybe he is thinking of cooperating? Regardless, he operated along side unnamed co-conspirators a bunch of DME companies in Brooklyn and East Patchogue New York and did business with two unnamed individuals that operated "Marketing Companies" in New Jersey with braces being the key named item. Between August 2016 to April 2019 - Vax and his co-conspirators submitted $29 million worth of claims and Medicare paid approximately $14 million on those claims.

In the New Jersey Farese indictment, Aaron Williamsky (“WILLIAMSKY”) and Nadia Levit (“LEVIT”) were unindicted co-conspirators who were residents of New Jersey and controlled companies there. The Farese people used their companies in a similar fashion to how Michael Vax was using them - to order various braces. I think it's reasonable to assume that two are the unnamed person I and II in Vax's scheme.

[Johnny1and1]

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/docume ... carver.pdf

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ten-flor ... -and-money

Carver is Italian, the family changed their last name. Big John's firm is named here. Carver is a Gambino associate. His wife turned on him.

I believe this is loosely connected to Mix. When I have some time I'll make my case.

FWIW, Michael Vax is known.

They're all using the same (or very similar) set of players to front.

[Johnny1and1]

"did knowingly and willfully, that is, with the intent to further the objects of the conspiracy,
combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other and with others known and unknown to
the Grand Jury, including with John Mamone and Joseph Mamone, to commit offenses against the
United States:"

No idea how to post the documents, but several co-conspirators are now matched in various separate and distinct medicare fraud cases in Florida, either directly connected, or circumstantially connected to LCN. Colombo and Gambino is where my specific knowledge goes.

The interesting thing to me is how a couple never shied away from Big John, a known snitch. Indeed they used him as an associate. What I mean by associate is a guy to take the fall. A cut out. Several persons removed, but used all the same.

I know some disagree, but Florida is big business. This is now pushing between 200-300 MM. Multiple Gambino crews operating, and at least two Colombo crews.

I think the Sabatino thing ties into is their a captain in Florida and not NY. At that time I'd have to assume yes. And I have to assume that is the way it is now.

Call it speculation. I have no idea how to find out what Carver's family's previous last name was. But I know what I know, and I'm fairly confident posting these rumors.