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Seventeen individuals have been arrested in connection to an illegal gambling and loansharking ring on Staten Island reportedly under the control of the Gambino crime family.
The charges — detailed in an 84-count indictment — alleges the enterprise raked in $22.7 million in illegal bets along with half a million dollars in usurious loans.
At the center of the operation were alleged Gambino soldiers John LaForte, Anthony Cinque and John Matera, alongside a cadre of associates.
Charges include enterprise corruption, promoting gambling, criminal usury and conspiracy.
Four suspects were also charged in a separate indictment for an illegal mortgage fraud scheme to buy a $600,000 home in New Jersey.
Among those arrested was Frederick Falcone, Sr., a former member of the NYPD.
LaForte had a managerial role within a sports gambling ring, utilizing an offshore website. The complaint alleges he and another defendant acted as loan sharks who maintained detailed ledgers with the names of victims and their respective usurious loan amounts.
“Illegal gambling and loan sharking schemes are some of the oldest rackets in the mob’s playbook,” state Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
“While organized crime may still be active in New York, today we are putting several Gambino family members out of business,” she added. “These criminal enterprises took tens of millions of dollars from New Yorkers and trapped many in dangerous amounts of debt.”
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