Gangland News 6/24/21

[mafiastudent]

Sources: Probe of Mob Construction Rackets Shows Shakedown Fees Are Higher Than Ever

Gang Land Exclusive!

A long-running investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office into alleged labor racketeering activity by a Staten Island-based Gambino crime family capo and more than a dozen construction companies, is heating up after a year-long, COVID-19 induced delay, Gang Land has learned.

Sources say prosecutors with the DA's Construction Fraud Task Force began presenting evidence linking capo Frank Camuso to extortion, bid-rigging, bribery, obstruction of justice and money laundering to a special rackets grand jury. Testimony on the four-year-long probe began several weeks ago and is expected to wrap up before Labor Day.

The sources say Camuso, 57, part-owner of a popular Staten Island restaurant called Bella Mama Rose, is the driving force behind a major extortion and bid-rigging scam. Evidence shows, the sources say, that the shakedown fees in the kickback scheme are double those collected in the historic Mafia Commission case that ended with 100 year prison terms for several mob bosses and other mobsters in 1987. In their 1986 trial, seven wiseguys were found guilty of demanding a 2% fee from all Manhattan construction projects greater than $2 million.

The group headed by Camuso "works both sides of the street," said one investigative source. "They shake down the builders for two percent to guarantee them quality contractors, and then they go back to the contractors and get two percent more from them for the service they provide," said the source.

In addition to Camuso, sources say the DA's task force is investigating alleged labor racketeering by Anthony Rinaldi, the CEO of the Rinaldi Group, a Secaucus NJ based builder with numerous ongoing projects in New York, New Jersey and Florida. They are also investigating a former Rinaldi employee, mob associate Robert (Rusty) Baselice, and a reputed Camuso underling, Louis Astuto, and have obtained financial records from several companies they control.

Sources say that Camuso, who was implicated but not charged with racketeering activity with the Bonanno crime family by Manhattan federal prosecutors in a 2018 indictment, is also a target of a separate probe of Gambino crime family construction industry rackets by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn that has "intersected" with the DA's investigation.

The sources say that task force prosecutor Meredith McGowan has obtained tape recorded evidence in the past year that links Rinaldi and Baselice to corrupt dealings with Camuso, whose home in the Huguenot section of Staten Island was searched last year, and who allegedly controls a company, Gem Consulting Group, LLC, that is implicated in the scheme.

The recent taped talks back up previously obtained taped conversations and texts that were collected by law enforcement three and four years ago, sources say.

In searches of Camuso's home, and of the Rinaldi Group offices, as Gang Land reported in March of last year, police sought financial records linking kickbacks in the form of work done by a Rinaldi Group subcontractor or "off-the-book payments" that were made to Camuso, Baselice, Astuto or another target of the probe, mob associate Paul Noto.

In a search of Rinaldi's offices last year, according to an affidavit by New Jersey state trooper James Porch, investigators were looking for "financial records evidencing Baselice's assistance to Rinaldi Group subcontractors in exchange for payment, and consequent falsification of business records."

Sources say that while Camuso is the main target of the DA's investigation, the Task Force has obtained evidence that Baselice serves as a "conduit" between Camuso and Rinaldi and considers all three to be targets of the current grand jury investigation.

"Rinaldi looks to be driving force behind a number of the subcontractors that have surfaced in the case, essentially as shell companies that are in place to collect the money," said one investigative source. Sources say that investigators have obtained books and records from dozens of companies in New York City, the suburbs, and New Jersey that are linked to the bid-rigging and kickback scheme.

Assistant district attorney McGowan did not return a Gang Land request for comment. A spokeswoman for the DA's office, and a spokesman for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office, declined to comment. Lawyers for Baseline and Astuto could not be reached.

Attorney John Meringolo, who told Gang Land last year that Camuso "denies any and all allegations by any investigatory agency," said yesterday: "My client and I are not worried at all."

Rinaldi's lawyer, Gerald McMahon, ripped the investigation as a "disgraceful and disgusting money grab" by the DA's office "to line their coffers at 100 Centre Street with my client's hard-earned money" as part of a civil settlement.

"They view him as the fatty calf," said McMahon. "They are trying to put enough pressure on him to make him agree to give them millions of dollars to stop investigating. That is why they are on this crusade to try and find something wrong. If his company wasn't so successful, he wouldn't be in this position."

"They seized all his books and records a year ago," the lawyer continued. "They have found nothing because there is nothing to find. Not a dime out of place. He's cleaner than a hound's tooth."

"But he's Italian and he's in construction, so they figure he must be dirty, so they keep looking and looking," said McMahon.

The lawyer says the DA is the one who is pulling a shakedown.

"They know an allegation would be devastating for my client, who has worked very hard for many years to build a successful business," said McMahon. "They are going to come to me at some point and ask my client for a couple of million dollars to make the case go away. This will come to that. I know these people."

Mob-Linked Developer Gets Four Months In Gambino Racketeering Scheme

It was a little before noon Tuesday when a huge collective sigh of relief was heard in the fourth floor courtroom of Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Ann Donnelly as she gave John (Johnny Si) Simonlacaj just four months in prison for his role in a $1.5 million Gambino family racketeering scam.

The sigh was loud enough to be heard all the way to the other side of the Throgs Neck Bridge and in the northern city suburbs.

The $650,000 a year executive of real estate developer HFZ Capital Group who was at the heart of a major racketeering indictment received a scolding for his second tax evasion conviction in five years. But that was the worst of it as Donnelly handed out a penalty at the low end of his sentencing guidelines.

Simonlacaj, 51, of Scarsdale, was the first of 12 defendants to face the music in a bribery and bid-rigging scheme that ripped off the IRS and five major construction companies.

The main player in the case is Andrew Campos, the wealthy Gambino family capo who is making his second tour of the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. His first ended in a 2005 conviction in a multimillion dollar fraud scheme.

Lawyers for Campos, who also lives in Scarsdale, along with those who represent other defendants, including mobster Vincent Fiore, of Briarcliff, and reputed Albanian gangster Mark (Chippy) Kocaj, of Tuckahoe, were in court to eyeball the sentencing, which was Donnelly's first in a major mob case.

Donnelly, a former prosecutor who has been on the federal bench since 2015, took over the case last year when Senior Judge Frederic Block recused himself right after all 12 defendants had copped plea deals in the case.

In an unusual move involving a plea agreement, prosecutors had argued strongly for the judge to impose a 10 month sentence for Simonlacaj, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion in a deal that also covered charges that he was involved in a year-long wire fraud conspiracy against HFZ Capital. At sentencing, prosecutors invariably seek a prison term within the agreed upon "sentencing guidelines" in the plea agreement.

But in a 20-page sentencing memo, prosecutors Keith Edelman and Kayla Bensing had urged Donnelly to mete out the maximum recommended prison term for the former Managing Director of Development for HFZ.

The prosecutors described him as a rich and "greedy" player in the Gambino bribery scheme who received $100,000 in bribes beginning in 2016, the same year he received three months in prison for another tax evasion scheme for which he had apologized profusely and had promised that sentencing judge: "This will never happen again."

"I know the government prosecutors wanted a longer sentence, and maybe they're right that it should be," Donnelly stated after meting out her sentence and fining Simonlacaj $20,000. "I resolved things in favor of the defendant, but if there's a third time," she said, "We're not going to be talking about months."

The prosecutors had argued that Johnny Si's "misconduct was much broader" than not declaring "an unreported gift" or "undeclared income from a side business." They cited bribes from a mob-operated construction company that not only violated Simonlacaj's "fiduciary duties to his employer" but "corrupts the construction industry in ways that are extremely hard to detect," they wrote.

Campos's company, CWC Contracting Corp, secured "so many" construction projects from HFZ "that Campos directed that (his cohorts) form a new corporation, Eastern Interiors LLC to avoid the appearance of having so many projects with the same company," they wrote.

"The nature and circumstances are even more serious as Simonlacaj is a wealthy man who was motivated by greed, not need," wrote Edelman and Bensing. "He has a reported net worth of over $1 million," earned $650,000 a year when he was fired, and "owns multiple properties, bank accounts, retirement accounts, insurance policies, vehicles, and jewelry."

The judge said she considered a sentence of six months, but lowered it to four to help ameliorate a total of six weeks extremely harsh time Simonlacaj would have to spend in isolation — three weeks when he enters, and then again before his release — that all inmates are required to undergo in the Bureau of Prisons current protocol due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Donnelly made no mention of Simonlacaj's involvement with the Gambino family as a factor in her sentence. But she agreed with a request by prosecutor Edelman to order Johnny Si to avoid any associations with organized crime figures during a year of post-prison supervised release.

The judge also agreed with a defense request to permit Johnny Si to associate with his cousin Chippy Kocaj during that stretch if the Albanian gangster, whose sentencing guidelines are 15-to-21 months, isn't behind bars when Simonlacaj is released, a week or so before Christmas.

Drug-Abusing FBI Snitch A 'Tough Guy' Gangster In His Own Mind

Frank Pasqua III sounded like a real deal gangster as he told how he would psych himself up before he went on a mob hit on the Johnny and Gene Show podcast we told you about last week. But in real life, Gang Land has learned, the only crimes of violence that Pasqua appears to have committed were against women. His victims included his wife, a girlfriend, and a worker in a Queens strip club whom he beat up, and sent vile threatening letters, before setting her car on fire.

"Nine times out of ten, I thought I was getting killed" when he got a call "at two, three in the morning" from a mob superior, he told cohosts John Alite and Gene Borrello. And he never knew whether he would be "putting in work that night" or whether he was "the work," but he carried on, Pasqua said.

"The fear" would hit him when he was "in the car, especially when there's someone sitting behind me," he said. "You're relieved because you didn't get killed" when the "work" is done, he said, but "by the time you're halfway home," Pasqua continued, "you're already wondering if there's going to be cops there waiting for you. You know what I mean? Like, then you're reading the newspaper the next morning, there's your murder on the front page. You know?"

But court filings by federal prosecutors and his lawyer indicate that those special insights he described did not occur in real life, but in the recesses of Pasqua's mind. Their filings state that the FBI told him he had no useful info when he tried to flip in 2012, that his account of the 2013 murder of ex-Purple Gang leader Michael Meldish that Pasqua told the feds about two years later — the only killing he ever told them about — was wrong, albeit an "honest" mistake.

He was able to interest the FBI in using him as a witness in the Meldish murder in 2015 when he was arrested for dealing heroin in Mississippi. And he got himself a deal as a cooperating witness in 2016 when Pasqua told the FBI that the Lucheses asked him to whack Bonanno boss Michael (Mikey Nose) Mancuso. But at no time has he ever been involved in a killing.

He did serve up to three years in state prison for assaulting his wife with a broken bottle and a slew of other crimes against her and other women in assaults that took place in Queens and Staten Island in 2005, 2006, and 2011, according to court records. In one case, involving a woman who worked in a nightclub, Pasqua sent her a photo with knife scars drawn across her face and breasts with the single word, "soon."

In his discussion with Alite and Borrello, who met Pasqua when he was serving his sentence for assaulting his wife, Pasqua stated he "went to jail for witness tampering," without mentioning that the witness he tampered with was a woman he had threatened.

"Frank Pasqua was the greatest and toughest gangster that no one ever heard of," said attorney Joseph DiBenedetto. "The only people he was tough with were women. No wonder he and Gene Borrello got along so well," said the lawyer, referring to Borrello's tape-recorded threats to his ex-girlfriend in January that cost him a four month return to prison that ended this week.

During the podcast, Pasqua stated he began his gangster career as a 17-year-old freshman at Buffalo University when he learned how easy it was to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. from Canada. He began a Peace Bridge to Penn Station drug route and distributed the coke in New York.

The drug peddling began a year or two before 9/11, he said, when, he learned a lesson they weren't teaching in the classroom: All he had to do to score cocaine from a Bonanno family cohort of his father in Canada was take a 15 or 20 minute hike to the U.S. Canadian border, flash his college ID and "walk across the Peace Bridge into Canada."

"At the time," Pasqua said, "I thought 100 grams was a lot of weight," he cracked. "You know, my cop out a couple months ago was to 10,000 kilos of heroin," he said. "But at the time, 100 grams was a lot. You know? So I would go over there and get maybe 200 grams. You know, two quarter-pounds, or half pound of dope, (and) I'd think I was the man."

"I'd jump on the Amtrak in Buffalo" and "get off at Penn Station" and "hand off the dope to a friend there," he said. "He'd hand me back money" and "I'd go back up to Buffalo." Back at school, he'd "live on that money for like two months," he said, and play the big spender role with his college buddies and their girlfriends.

"So at the end of the night," he said, "I wouldn't let them pay for anything. You know, say it was five of us. So there's ten, five couples. So at the end of the night, I wouldn't let them pay for anything. It'd be like $1500 tab. You know? I was a college kid. I thought I was spending money, but I didn't learn about spending money until later. I learned how to spend money really good."

Pasqua was never busted for drug dealing back then. But there's at least some truth to that tale. His lawyer did state at his sentencing that Pasqua "had a little bit of college" that ended, not when he moved into the drug business, as Pasqua stated, but when "his family decided they weren't going to pay for his college anymore."

Due to a monumental screwup by Optimum-Altice, Gang Land's phone number was disconnected on June 22 and will not be restored until July 1. Email still works. A new temporary number we posted on our members contacts page worked for a few hours, but Optimum-Altice screwed that up too. They haven't screwed up our email service. Yet. We are sorry about the screwup.

[mafiastudent]

Huh. Who knew Pasqua had a history of abusing women.....maybe there's something in the informant air?

[Dave65827]

Found this article Salmonjac had barely gotten out of prison for wire fraud before he was indicted https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny ... story.html

I also think it’s worth noting he was a contributor to the political campaign of Bronx council man Mark Gjonaj https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles ... lines.html

Also interesting about the Camuso stuff I wonder what time he’s looking at? Also looks like a lot of business guys are going down I bet a few of them are going to flip if they haven’t already

[furiofromnaples]

Huh. Who knew Pasqua had a history of abusing women.....maybe there's something in the informant air?

He was a junkie,abused various women and was caught selling drug and flip for avoid prison but c'mon really the Feds used this asshole against Madonna?

[Adam]

What is Pasqua talking about when he mentions 10,000 kilos of heroin?

[Amershire_Ed]

Thanks for posting! Love reading about the nitty-gritty details of these construction schemes.

[Amershire_Ed]

What is Pasqua talking about when he mentions 10,000 kilos of heroin?

Yeah that guy is full of shit. Heroin isn’t moved at the metric ton level like cocaine is. He thinks people are stupid.

[Teflon Dom]

Sounds like Camuso will be behind bars before long. They are really gunning for him, but it said the raid of his books turned up nothing. Guy must be great at covering his tracks if they haven’t put a case on him yet .

Has he done any time before?

[JoeCamel]

GreAt gangland. They have been getting better again lately. They sucked for a while there

[JohnnyS]

Sounds like Camuso will be behind bars before long. They are really gunning for him, but it said the raid of his books turned up nothing. Guy must be great at covering his tracks if they haven’t put a case on him yet .

Has he done any time before?

Never been arrested.

Thanks for posting.

[mafiastudent]

Huh. Who knew Pasqua had a history of abusing women.....maybe there's something in the informant air?

He was a junkie,abused various women and was caught selling drug and flip for avoid prison but c'mon really the Feds used this asshole against Madonna?

Pasqua's information for the Meldish murder was the basis of the indictment. But what exactly was said in the Grand Jury is unknown as the defense had requested the judge to review the Grand Jury minutes and she declined instead telling the prosecution to go back and reindict. This was after it was revealed that the prosecution lied about some evidence they had that they didn't (tape recordings).

[Wiseguy]

In their 1986 trial, seven wiseguys were found guilty of demanding a 2% fee from all Manhattan construction projects greater than $2 million.

2% where the cost of the concrete in the project was between $2 million and $5 million. Paid by 1 of 6 companies in the club, depending on whoever got the contract, split between the 4 families. Contracts where the concrete was over $5 million automatically went to S&A Concrete, owned by Salerno and Castellano. Contractors outside the club were allowed to get concrete jobs under $2 million (later raised to $3 million) but they had to pay a $50,000 kickback to the Colombos.

What is Pasqua talking about when he mentions 10,000 kilos of heroin?

He's referring to a dream he had before waking up and being sorely disappointed. I believe it was the same dream he had where he and the Meldish brothers could kill 4 or 5 top Lucchese guys and take over the family.

[TommyNoto]

Found this article Salmonjac had barely gotten out of prison for wire fraud before he was indicted https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny ... story.html

I also think it’s worth noting he was a contributor to the political campaign of Bronx council man Mark Gjonaj https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles ... lines.html

Also interesting about the Camuso stuff I wonder what time he’s looking at? Also looks like a lot of business guys are going down I bet a few of them are going to flip if they haven’t already

I don’t know man , these guys have gotten smart and Camuso likely used Gem Consulting to collect the money

If they provided legit services then this could be another Dud. They seem to cover their tracks today , very interesting case in how they have evolved and hide behind businesses . I know they are active in NJ concrete today but you wouldn’t know it unless you have the project funds

[TommyGambino]

Gamninos seem big in construction. Camuso, Campos and Filippelli all described as powerful captains been making millions. Was it Gurino in charge of construction for the gambino family before he died? Wonder who has it now.

[Ivan]

Love reading about the nitty-gritty details of these construction schemes.

Same. Like reading about organized crime that's actually organized.