Two indictments and one complaint were unsealed today in federal
court in Brooklyn variously charging 12 defendants with racketeering
conspiracy, bribery, loansharking, fraud, obstruction of justice and
related offenses. Those charged with racketeering conspiracy were
Andrew Campos, an alleged captain in the Gambino organized crime family
of La Cosa Nostra; James Ciaccia, George Campos, Vincent Fiore and
Richard Martino, alleged Gambino family soldiers; and Renato Barca, Jr.,
Benito DiZenzo, Mark Kocaj, Frank Tarul and Michael Tarul, alleged
Gambino family associates. The charges relate to the defendants’
criminal activities throughout the New York metropolitan area since
February 2013.
Eleven defendants were arrested this morning and are scheduled to be
arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon E.
Reyes, Jr. One defendant is a fugitive.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District
of New York; William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Jonathan
D. Larsen, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal
Investigation (IRS-CI); and Dermot F. Shea, Commissioner, New York City
Police Department (NYPD), announced the charges.
“The outstanding investigative work by this Office’s prosecutors and
our law enforcement partners uncovered a litany of crimes allegedly
committed by members and associates of the Gambino organized crime
family, who still don’t get it – handcuffs and a jail cell are waiting
for criminals who threaten violence and commit fraud, money laundering
and bribery in furtherance of their enterprise,” stated United States
Attorney Donoghue. Mr. Donoghue thanked the Queens County District
Attorney’s Office, the United States Probation Departments for the
Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the Waterfront Commission
of New York Harbor for their assistance during the investigation.
“The Gambino members arrested in this case ran the gamut of criminal
activity. Everything from the usual thuggish behavior of beating people
up, forcing people to take the fall for their crimes, all the way to
defrauding the federal government,” stated FBI Assistant
Director-in-Charge Sweeney. “Several suspects even went to prison, were
released, and allegedly went right back to breaking the law. At some
point, these crime families should realize we see what they're doing,
and their actions are going to lead them right back to the same prison
cells.”
“Financial gain is the primary motivation of any criminal enterprise
and these allegations are no different,” stated IRS-CI Special
Agent-in-Charge Larsen. “The criminal investigators of IRS-Criminal
Investigation specialize in unraveling such serious charges where
multiple financial frauds and extreme measures are utilized for personal
enrichment.”
“The NYPD and its law enforcement partners remain committed to
eradicating organized crime in New York City,” stated NYPD Commissioner
Shea. “Associates of the Gambino Crime Family – or any other enterprise
that seeks to enrich its members through racketeering, bribery,
loansharking and fraud – should know that investigators will build
strong cases against them, and they will be prosecuted. I commend the
members of the NYPD, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their
work on this case.”
As alleged in the government’s court filings and summarized below,
Andrew Campos and members of his crew used bribery, fraud and extortion
schemes to infiltrate the construction industry and earn millions of
dollars in criminal proceeds.
Honest Services Wire Fraud Bribery Schemes
Andrew Campos, Fiore, Kocaj and DiZenzo operated a carpentry company,
CWC Contracting Corp. (“CWC”), and are charged with paying bribes and
kickbacks to employees of numerous construction companies and real
estate developers. In exchange, these employees took steps to benefit
CWC, including awarding contracts and approving change orders to add or
delete from the original scope of a contract. Specifically, between
approximately June 2018 and June 2019, CWC paid hundreds of thousands of
dollars in bribes and kickbacks to multiple employees of a real estate
development company (described in the indictment as “Construction
Company #1”), including John Simonlacaj, the company’s current Managing
Director of Development. CWC paid the bribes in the form of hundreds of
thousands of dollars’ worth of free labor and materials used for
renovations on Simonlacaj’s residence that was paid for by a
fraudulently approved change order. As Kocaj stated, although the work
was paid for by a change order, “it should have been pro bono” because
Construction Company #1 “do[es] 50 million a year in business”, and it
was “worth it to do some of the paperwork.” In another intercepted
conversation, Fiore described the benefits provided by Simonlacaj, “This
director, John. There’s a beautiful in there. There’s things we can
do with [Kocaj] there, he whispers what he needs to whisper and we get
things done.”
Obstruction of Justice – Martino’s Concealment of Financial Assets
In 2005, Andrew Campos and Martino were convicted in the Eastern
District of New York for their role in a massive scheme to defraud users
of adult entertainment services. Martino was ultimately sentenced to
108 months’ imprisonment and ordered by the court to pay $9.1 million in
forfeiture. After his release from prison, Martino, together with
Frank Tarul and others, concealed Martino’s substantial wealth and
income, falsely reporting that Martino had limited assets and worked for
Tarul’s flooring company. In reality, as revealed by court-authorized
wiretaps, Martino operated multiple companies that earned millions of
dollars, including construction work, investments in pizzerias and other
business ventures.
Loansharking and Extortion
As detailed in the government’s court filings, various defendants
used extortionate means to collect money. For example, Andrew Campos
and Fiore used threats of violence to collect at least $100,000 from one
victim. In a lawfully wiretapped phone conversation on March 13, 2019,
Fiore warned the victim, “When you get punched in the face and your
teeth get knocked out . . . you’re not going to laugh no more, okay? . .
. At the end of the day, when you’re upside down [i.e., unable to make certain payments], you deal with him,” referring to Campos.
Kocaj and Lopez, a former professional boxer, are charged with
loansharking, including Kocaj’s recovery of tens of thousands of dollars
of a gambling debt on behalf of an Albanian organized crime figure.
Kocaj bragged about his ability to violently collect money, stating that
he could send “a couple of my Albanian guys” and have somebody “grab [a
potential victim] by the f-----g neck.” Kocaj helped collect over
$30,000, threatening that if the victim did not pay, “[h]e’s going to
get his head split open. . . . These are not the guys to f--- around
with. . . . These Albanians, you know what they’ll do.” Earlier this
morning, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Lopez’s
home and seized $25,000 in cash, brass knuckles and several large
knives.
Retaliation Against Grand Jury Witness – Obstruction of Justice
Andrew Campos allegedly directed that a CWC worker believed to have
testified before the grand jury be fired. Subsequently, during a
lawfully recorded conversation on November 22, 2019, Fiore directed that
the CWC worker be fired as “a personal favor to Andrew,” because the
worker “could’ve pled the Fifth.”
Additional Charged Schemes
The indictments and complaint include additional alleged criminal
schemes, including (1) laundering money by cashing checks made out to
others, purportedly for work performed in connection with CWC
construction projects; (2) fraudulently procuring cards from the United
States Department of Labor indicating completion of certain Occupational
Safety and Health Administration training courses when, in fact, the
courses were never completed; (3) defrauding the U.S. government by
paying CWC employees millions of dollars in cash without making the
required payroll tax withholdings and payments; (4) overbilling CWC
clients by causing them to pay for fraudulent or inflated work orders;
and (5) evading taxes and money laundering, including by having CWC
construct Andrew Campos’s residence.
The charges in the indictments and complaint are allegations, and the
defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized
Crime & Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Keith D.
Edelman and Kayla C. Bensing are in charge of the prosecution, assisted
by EDNY Special Agent Erik Nesbitt. Assistant United States Attorney
Claire S. Kedeshian is handling forfeiture matters.
The Defendants:
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-575 (FB)
RENATO BARCA, JR. (also known as “Ronny”)
Age: 32
Bronx, New York
ANDREW CAMPOS
Age: 50
Scarsdale, New York
GEORGE CAMPOS
Age: 72
Peekskill, New York
JAMES CIACCIA
Age: 51
Bronx, New York
BENITO DIZENZO (also known as “Benny”)
Age: 53
New Rochelle, New York
VINCENT FIORE
Age: 57
Briarcliff, New York
MARK KOCAJ (also known as “Chippy”)
Age: 49
Tuckahoe, New York
RICHARD MARTINO
Age: 60
Rye, New York
JOHN SIMONLACAJ (also known as “John Si” and “Smiley”)
Age: 50
Scarsdale, New York
FRANK TARUL (also known as “Bones”)
Age: 45
Bronx, New York
MICHAEL TARUL (also known as “Perkins”)
Age: 43
Bronx, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-577 (FB)
MARK KOCAJ (also known as “Chippy”)
Age: 49
Tuckahoe, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-MJ-1126
ADRIAL LOPEZ (also known as “Adriel Lopez” and “Andrew Lopeck”)
Age: 56
Bronx, New York
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/10-bronx-and-westchester-based-members-and-associates-gambino-crime-family-indicted
