Call it a “Mob” contract gone bad.
Two cast members of “Mob Wives Chicago” are being sued by film producer and talent manager Nick Celozzi Jr., who says both women owe him a cut of their pay for appearing on the new VH1 reality TV show.
The lawsuits, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, accuse Renee Fecarotta Russo and Nora Schweihs of breaking their contracts with Celozzi.
He says his company, Family Ties Management, arranged for both women to attend a casting call with the show’s production company, JustJenn Productions. The women hired Celozzi to be their manager for two years, according to copies of contracts that appear to have been signed by Russo and Schweihs in December.
As their manager, Celozzi was supposed to collect 15 percent of what the women get paid to be on the TV show — a figure listed in the lawsuits as $6,000 for each of the season’s 10 episodes. That makes Celozzi’s cut $900 an episode for Russo and the same for Schweihs.
Looks like it was an offer they could refuse.
To date, Russo has forked over $500 while Schweihs has paid $900, according to the lawsuits, which say the women each owe a total of $9,000 for season one — plus interest and legal costs.
“I do believe a lot of people who are new to this business … when they realize that there’s a lot of costs to being involved in this type of industry, they change their minds about what decisions they wanted to have made several months prior,” said Celozzi’s attorney, James Pesoli.
The management contracts call for disputes to be settled before the American Arbitration Association in New York. But Pesoli said that “due to the size of the claim being relatively minimal, under $10,000, it’s in both parties’ best interest to attempt to settle it locally.”
Pesoli, who appeared in court with Russo’s attorney earlier this week, said discussions are under way to potentially settle out of court. He said things haven’t progressed as much in the case of Schweihs, whom they’ve had “a great amount of difficulty” in serving with the lawsuit.
Attempts to reach Schweihs, Russo and Russo’s attorney Wednesday were unsuccessful.
“Mob Wives Chicago,” a spinoff of the popular “Mob Wives” series, debuted June 10 and airs Sundays on the cable network. The show follows the lives of five women related to Chicago mobsters.
Russo is the niece of late loan shark and Outfit hit man “Big John” Fecarotta.
Schweihs is the daughter of Frank “The German” Schweihs, an alleged mob enforcer who died shortly before going to trial in 2008 in the city’s historic Family Secrets case. Nora Schweihs made headlines last week when she had father’s remains exhumed from St. Mary Cemetery in Evergreen Park — part of her purported quest to find out what really happened to her dad.
Celozzi, a former actor, used to appear in his father Nick’s commercials for Celozzi-Ettleson Chevrolet in Elmhurst. Dividing his time between California and the western suburbs, Celozzi has several mob-related entertainment projects in the works, including a documentary on his grand-uncle, notorious Outfit boss Sam “Momo” Giancana.
Thanks to Lori Rackl Irackl
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Obama's NLRB Pick, Richard Griffin, Tied to Mob?
The rap sheet for members of the International Union of Operating Engineers reads like something out of "Goodfellas."
Embezzlement. Wire fraud. Bribery. That's just scratching the surface of crimes committed by the IUOE ranks. And it is from this union that President Obama earlier this year picked one of his latest appointees to the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency tasked with resolving labor disputes between unions and management.
That recess appointee, Richard Griffin, was former general counsel for the 400,000-member union of heavy equipment operators -- a union tainted over the years by mob connections and a history of corruption.
Public documents obtained by Fox News show that more than 60 IUOE members have been arrested, indicted or jailed in the last decade on charges that include labor racketeering, extortion, criminal enterprise, bodily harm and workplace sabotage.
In some of the more egregious examples, federal prosecutors alleged in February 2003 that the Genovese and Colombo crime families wrested control of two IUOE locals, and stole $3.6 million from major New York area construction projects -- including the Museum of Modern Art and minor league baseball stadiums for the Yankees and Mets in Staten and Coney Islands.
Congress and the American public may never know whether Griffin's fiduciary responsibilities as general counsel were compromised by the avalanche of arrests, indictments and prosecutions of IUOE members. Griffin did not respond to Fox News' request for an interview. Before joining the NLRB, he served in various positions at the IUOE dating back to 1983. But records indicate he did not take an active role in representing any of the accused union members in criminal matters while he was general counsel for the union.
In at least one case during Griffin's tenure, the IUOE national headquarters placed a local that had run afoul of the law into trusteeship. But it remains unclear what other firewalls, if any, Griffin erected to separate the national union from its corrupt locals, or how he dealt with individual local union members who were in legal trouble.
On April 9, 2008, a dozen high-ranking members of an IUOE local in Buffalo, N.Y., were arrested for damaging more than 40 pieces of heavy machinery at construction sites where non-union workers were hired. They poured sand into oil systems, and cut tires and fuel lines. They also ran the license plate numbers of victims through a state database to get personal information including the names and addresses of victims' wives.
Among the individual union members and associates prosecuted in various investigations were:
Former U.S. Attorney and present New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie prosecuted some of the IUOE criminal cases. In one of Christie's prosecutions, Kenneth Campbell, the former business manager of local 825 of the IUOE, pleaded guilty to embezzling $200,000 from his union and taking bribes from contractors to buy high-end electronics and a Lincoln Town Car for his father, a retired IUOE member.
Then-U.S. Attorney Christie, said, "Campbell and his cronies were simply corrupt. They treated local 825 like a piggy bank at will to treat themselves to luxuries at the expense of dues-paying members they ripped off."
Because he was recess appointed, Richard Griffin, Jr., underwent no congressional scrutiny before he was sworn in on Jan. 9 of this year.
At the time of his recess appointment, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told the Wall Street Journal he was, "extremely disappointed" in Obama's decision to "avoid the constitutionally mandated Senate confirmation process." He said that two of three nominees for the NLRB, including Griffin, were submitted to the Senate on Dec. 15, just before the Senate was to adjourn, allowing only a day to review the nominees.
Griffin has been an advocate for enhanced NLRB power for decades.
In 1988 testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Employer/Employee relations, Griffin, who was then serving on the Board of Trustees of IUOE's Central Pension Fund, argued for more power for the NLRB to fine companies without a court order to enforce its rulings. He also argued against legislation that would have forced the NLRB and the Department of Labor to pay the legal costs for small businesses who won in court against unions.
Griffin's tenure on the NLRB will be longer than most recess appointees. The president delayed his appointment by one day until the start of a new congressional session -- effectively doubling to two years his stay. Recess appointments last until the end of the Senate's next session -- meaning Griffin will sit on the NLRB until December 2013.
Thanks to Doug McKelway.
Embezzlement. Wire fraud. Bribery. That's just scratching the surface of crimes committed by the IUOE ranks. And it is from this union that President Obama earlier this year picked one of his latest appointees to the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency tasked with resolving labor disputes between unions and management.
That recess appointee, Richard Griffin, was former general counsel for the 400,000-member union of heavy equipment operators -- a union tainted over the years by mob connections and a history of corruption.
Public documents obtained by Fox News show that more than 60 IUOE members have been arrested, indicted or jailed in the last decade on charges that include labor racketeering, extortion, criminal enterprise, bodily harm and workplace sabotage.
In some of the more egregious examples, federal prosecutors alleged in February 2003 that the Genovese and Colombo crime families wrested control of two IUOE locals, and stole $3.6 million from major New York area construction projects -- including the Museum of Modern Art and minor league baseball stadiums for the Yankees and Mets in Staten and Coney Islands.
Congress and the American public may never know whether Griffin's fiduciary responsibilities as general counsel were compromised by the avalanche of arrests, indictments and prosecutions of IUOE members. Griffin did not respond to Fox News' request for an interview. Before joining the NLRB, he served in various positions at the IUOE dating back to 1983. But records indicate he did not take an active role in representing any of the accused union members in criminal matters while he was general counsel for the union.
In at least one case during Griffin's tenure, the IUOE national headquarters placed a local that had run afoul of the law into trusteeship. But it remains unclear what other firewalls, if any, Griffin erected to separate the national union from its corrupt locals, or how he dealt with individual local union members who were in legal trouble.
On April 9, 2008, a dozen high-ranking members of an IUOE local in Buffalo, N.Y., were arrested for damaging more than 40 pieces of heavy machinery at construction sites where non-union workers were hired. They poured sand into oil systems, and cut tires and fuel lines. They also ran the license plate numbers of victims through a state database to get personal information including the names and addresses of victims' wives.
Among the individual union members and associates prosecuted in various investigations were:
- Andrew Merola, a high-ranking member of the Gambino crime family who, in 2010, admitted to committing nine different acts of racketeering, including wire fraud involving a no-show/low-show job he got as an operating engineer for local 825 of the IUOE.
- James Roemer, a former treasurer of Operating Engineers local 14, who was sentenced in September 2003 to 41 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $2.7 million in restitution for conspiracy to fraudulently receive unlawful labor payments.
- Joel Waverly Cacace, Sr. The imprisoned acting boss of the Colombo crime family conspired with IUOE members to get a paid no-show construction job for his son, Jo-Jo Cacace, Jr. The senior Cacace was sent to prison in February 2003 for 20 years. The three-year investigation that sent him to jail also produced more than 24 other convictions.
Former U.S. Attorney and present New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie prosecuted some of the IUOE criminal cases. In one of Christie's prosecutions, Kenneth Campbell, the former business manager of local 825 of the IUOE, pleaded guilty to embezzling $200,000 from his union and taking bribes from contractors to buy high-end electronics and a Lincoln Town Car for his father, a retired IUOE member.
Then-U.S. Attorney Christie, said, "Campbell and his cronies were simply corrupt. They treated local 825 like a piggy bank at will to treat themselves to luxuries at the expense of dues-paying members they ripped off."
Because he was recess appointed, Richard Griffin, Jr., underwent no congressional scrutiny before he was sworn in on Jan. 9 of this year.
At the time of his recess appointment, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told the Wall Street Journal he was, "extremely disappointed" in Obama's decision to "avoid the constitutionally mandated Senate confirmation process." He said that two of three nominees for the NLRB, including Griffin, were submitted to the Senate on Dec. 15, just before the Senate was to adjourn, allowing only a day to review the nominees.
Griffin has been an advocate for enhanced NLRB power for decades.
In 1988 testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Employer/Employee relations, Griffin, who was then serving on the Board of Trustees of IUOE's Central Pension Fund, argued for more power for the NLRB to fine companies without a court order to enforce its rulings. He also argued against legislation that would have forced the NLRB and the Department of Labor to pay the legal costs for small businesses who won in court against unions.
Griffin's tenure on the NLRB will be longer than most recess appointees. The president delayed his appointment by one day until the start of a new congressional session -- effectively doubling to two years his stay. Recess appointments last until the end of the Senate's next session -- meaning Griffin will sit on the NLRB until December 2013.
Thanks to Doug McKelway.
Friday, June 22, 2012
FBI 2011 Bank Crime Statistics
The FBI released bank crime statistics for calendar year 2011. Between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011, there were 5,014 robberies, 60 burglaries, 12 larcenies, and seven extortions of financial institutions1 reported to law enforcement. The total 5,093 reported violations represent a decrease from 2010, during which 5,641 violations of the Federal Bank Robbery and Incidental Crimes Statute were reported.
Highlights of the report include:
These statistics were recorded as of April 24, 2012. Note that not all bank crimes are reported to the FBI, and therefore the report is not a complete statistical compilation of all bank crimes that occurred in the United States.
Highlights of the report include:
- Of the 5,086 total reported bank robberies, burglaries, and larcenies, loot was taken in 4,534 incidents (89 percent). Loot was taken during two of the seven reported bank extortions.
- The total amount taken was valued at more than $38 million. More than $8 million was recovered and returned to financial institutions.
- During the reported bank robberies, burglaries, and larcenies, the following modus operandi were the most common: demand note (2,958 incidents); oral demand (2,678 incidents); weapon threatened (2,331 incidents); and firearm used (1,242 incidents). Of the seven reported extortions, perpetrators used or threatened the use of explosive devices during one incident and made threats by telephone during four incidents.2
- Acts of violence were committed during 201 of the reported robberies, burglaries, and larcenies. These acts included 70 instances involving the discharge of firearms, 116 instances involving assaults, and one instance involving an explosive device.3 No acts of violence occurred during the seven reported bank extortions.
- Acts of violence during the reported robberis, burglaries, and larcenies resulted in 88 injuries, 13 deaths, and 30 persons being taken hostage. No injuries, deaths, or hostage takings occurred during the reported bank extortions.
- Most violations occurred on Friday. Regardless of the day of the week, violations between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. were the most common.
- Most violations occurred in the Southern region of the U.S., with 1,576 reported incidents.
These statistics were recorded as of April 24, 2012. Note that not all bank crimes are reported to the FBI, and therefore the report is not a complete statistical compilation of all bank crimes that occurred in the United States.
- Financial institutions include commercial banks, mutual savings banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions.
- More than one modus operandi may have been used during an incident
- One or more acts of violence may occur during an incident.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Raghuveer Nayak Charged with Fraud and Tax Offenses for Allegedly Paying Physicians Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Bribes for Patient Referrals
The owner of multiple area outpatient surgery centers was arrested today on federal fraud and tax charges alleging that he paid bribes and kickbacks to physicians for patient referrals and filed false federal income tax returns that understated his income. The defendant, Raghuveer Nayak, was charged in a 19-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury last week and unsealed today following his arrest, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Thomas Jankowski, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.
Nayak, 57, of Oak Brook, was scheduled to appear at 11:00 a.m. today before Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez in U.S. District Court.
He was charged with 10 counts of mail fraud, five counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering, and four counts of filing false income tax returns for the years 2005-2008. The indictment seeks forfeiture of at least $1.8 million in alleged fraud proceeds, or substitute assets, including Nayak’s Oak Brook residence, the Rogers Park One Day Surgery Center Inc., located at 7616 North Paulina St., and the Lakeshore Surgery Center LLC, located at 7200 North Western Ave.
In addition to those two facilities, Nayak owned and/or controlled the following health care-related businesses in Illinois and Indiana: Lakeside Surgery Center LLC, Merillville Plaza Surgery Center LLC, Lincoln Park Open MRI, Delaware Place MRI LLC, Paulina Anesthesia Inc., Illiana Anesthesia, Western Touhy Anesthesia Inc., and Division Medical Diagnostics Inc., according to the indictment.
Nayak’s facilities did not accept patients covered public health insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and instead accepted patients insured by private health insurers, such as BlueCross BlueShield, or patients who agreed to pay the entire fees themselves. Private insurers treated Nayak’s facilities as “out-of-network” when paying bills submitted for patient services.
Between 2000 and December 2010, Nayak allegedly defrauded patients by paying and arranging to pay bribes and kickbacks in the form of cash and other hidden payments to physicians who would refer their patients to Nayak’s facilities for medical treatment. Nayak paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to different physicians in exchange for patient referrals, the charges allege, adding that the physicians deceived their patients by not disclosing that they were being paid for making referrals to Nayak’s facilities.
At times, the indictment alleges that Nayak paid bribes and kickbacks to physicians to begin referring patients, while at other times he did so to ensure that they continued to refer patients to his facilities. He allegedly offered to pay physicians a set amount of money for each patient referral. Nayak allegedly concealed and attempted to conceal the scheme by making payments in cash, disguising the payments as advertising, or by disguising the true purpose of the payments through fraudulent agreements and contracts, including contracts purporting to pay physicians for performing services that Nayak knew they had not provided.
Between 2002 and December 2008, Nayak allegedly obtained cash to pay bribes and kickbacks by giving Individual A more than $2 million in checks drawn on his facilities’ accounts and, in exchange, at Nayak’s direction, Individual A gave Nayak cash equaling approximately 70 percent of the value of the checks. Nayak allegedly indicated to his tax preparer that the checks to Individual A were for advertising and should be treated as a business expense on tax returns for Nayak and his facilities. After he was interviewed by law enforcement agents in December 2008, Nayak allegedly took additional steps to hide the scheme by executing fraudulent contracts and by warning physicians not to speak with agents about the payments.
The tax counts allege that Nayak caused the preparation of false individual federal income tax returns that understated his true income because he claimed that the checks to Individual A should be treated as advertising expenses when he knew they were not. As a result, Nayak allegedly understated his gross income when he reported the following amounts: $4,643,916 for 2005; $6,471,865 for 2006; $5,791,109 for 2007; and $9,362,647 for 2008.
Each count of mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or an alternate fine totaling twice the loss or twice the gain, whichever is greater, as well as mandatory restitution. Interstate travel in aid of racketeering carries a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine on each count, and each count of filing a false income tax return carries a three-year maximum prison term and a $250,000 fine. In addition, defendants convicted of tax offenses must pay the costs of prosecution and remain liable for any and all back taxes, as well as a potential civil fraud penalty of 75 percent of the underpayment plus interest. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carrie Hamilton and Andrianna Kastanek.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Nayak, 57, of Oak Brook, was scheduled to appear at 11:00 a.m. today before Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez in U.S. District Court.
He was charged with 10 counts of mail fraud, five counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering, and four counts of filing false income tax returns for the years 2005-2008. The indictment seeks forfeiture of at least $1.8 million in alleged fraud proceeds, or substitute assets, including Nayak’s Oak Brook residence, the Rogers Park One Day Surgery Center Inc., located at 7616 North Paulina St., and the Lakeshore Surgery Center LLC, located at 7200 North Western Ave.
In addition to those two facilities, Nayak owned and/or controlled the following health care-related businesses in Illinois and Indiana: Lakeside Surgery Center LLC, Merillville Plaza Surgery Center LLC, Lincoln Park Open MRI, Delaware Place MRI LLC, Paulina Anesthesia Inc., Illiana Anesthesia, Western Touhy Anesthesia Inc., and Division Medical Diagnostics Inc., according to the indictment.
Nayak’s facilities did not accept patients covered public health insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and instead accepted patients insured by private health insurers, such as BlueCross BlueShield, or patients who agreed to pay the entire fees themselves. Private insurers treated Nayak’s facilities as “out-of-network” when paying bills submitted for patient services.
Between 2000 and December 2010, Nayak allegedly defrauded patients by paying and arranging to pay bribes and kickbacks in the form of cash and other hidden payments to physicians who would refer their patients to Nayak’s facilities for medical treatment. Nayak paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to different physicians in exchange for patient referrals, the charges allege, adding that the physicians deceived their patients by not disclosing that they were being paid for making referrals to Nayak’s facilities.
At times, the indictment alleges that Nayak paid bribes and kickbacks to physicians to begin referring patients, while at other times he did so to ensure that they continued to refer patients to his facilities. He allegedly offered to pay physicians a set amount of money for each patient referral. Nayak allegedly concealed and attempted to conceal the scheme by making payments in cash, disguising the payments as advertising, or by disguising the true purpose of the payments through fraudulent agreements and contracts, including contracts purporting to pay physicians for performing services that Nayak knew they had not provided.
Between 2002 and December 2008, Nayak allegedly obtained cash to pay bribes and kickbacks by giving Individual A more than $2 million in checks drawn on his facilities’ accounts and, in exchange, at Nayak’s direction, Individual A gave Nayak cash equaling approximately 70 percent of the value of the checks. Nayak allegedly indicated to his tax preparer that the checks to Individual A were for advertising and should be treated as a business expense on tax returns for Nayak and his facilities. After he was interviewed by law enforcement agents in December 2008, Nayak allegedly took additional steps to hide the scheme by executing fraudulent contracts and by warning physicians not to speak with agents about the payments.
The tax counts allege that Nayak caused the preparation of false individual federal income tax returns that understated his true income because he claimed that the checks to Individual A should be treated as advertising expenses when he knew they were not. As a result, Nayak allegedly understated his gross income when he reported the following amounts: $4,643,916 for 2005; $6,471,865 for 2006; $5,791,109 for 2007; and $9,362,647 for 2008.
Each count of mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or an alternate fine totaling twice the loss or twice the gain, whichever is greater, as well as mandatory restitution. Interstate travel in aid of racketeering carries a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine on each count, and each count of filing a false income tax return carries a three-year maximum prison term and a $250,000 fine. In addition, defendants convicted of tax offenses must pay the costs of prosecution and remain liable for any and all back taxes, as well as a potential civil fraud penalty of 75 percent of the underpayment plus interest. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carrie Hamilton and Andrianna Kastanek.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Busted! Riveting Stories Of Tax Evasion And Fraud By An IRS Insider
Tax evasion and fraud do not discriminate and can be perpetrated by anyone – from middle-class Americans to high profile celebrities starting with Al Capone, Willie Nelson, and continuing more recently with Wesley Snipes.
Bruce Bronstein is making a name for himself as a master storyteller in his four novels that tell riveting accounts of tax evasion and fraud and what it takes to go after the perpetrators. His lengthy career with the IRS, handling some of the country’s most complex and controversial cases, provides the backdrop for Bronstein’s compelling stories. His novels, a perfect blend of humor, crime and the inner workings of the IRS and our legal system, make for a read not easy to put down.
Stan, a corrupt tax lawyer, subject to disciplinary action for failing to meet the standard of conduct expected of tax practitioners, is involved in the death of an IRS agent. The agent’s death, which has been staged to look like an accident, is at the center of Bronstein’s first book Nondisclosable. When IRS officials find circumstantial evidence in the dead agent’s audit files that incriminate the lawyer, it’s rendered useless because they can’t disclose the information. Although police lack the hard evidence needed to solve the mystery, the IRS is prepared to extract revenge against the lawyer – who soon finds himself embroiled in a variety of criminal conspiracies. Forced to face legendary agent Louie Lipschitz, the lawyer fears there is no escape in sight…
Full Disclosure, Bronstein’s second book, shows the corrupt lawyer going to prison at the same time the department is prosecuting another case that involves the largest individual tax cheat in history. Before the case is concluded, it leads to yet another tax case that implicates a man who was once the most powerful person in the U.S. The consequences of the investigation take a deadly turn and potential witnesses suffer a horrible fate. To ensure the prosecution is successful, law enforcement officials must take extreme measures and make tough decisions that have them deal-making with a notorious figure. Full Disclosure takes readers on a roller-coaster ride through our criminal justice system, showing how the unpredictability of one case can impact another seemingly unrelated case in an ironic twist of fate.
Imagine a bribery conspiracy, fraud, abuse of power and illicit sex – now imagine it’s taking place within the IRS! In Den of Thieves, the third novel by Bronstein, a shocking discovery is made that undermines the integrity of the IRS when its own employees, responsible for the administration of the nation’s tax laws, are found to be manipulating the system in a plot so ingenious only one intrepid IRS agent can solve the mystery. As Lipschitz, their fearless agent, finds himself matching wits with a brilliant sociopath currently behind bars, it’s not certain that even he can overcome all the challenges placed in his path.
Due for release this summer, Reversal of Justice finds Erica Whitman plotting revenge against the federal government due to her imprisonment for her role in a conspiracy to defraud the IRS. As she schemes to have her conviction overturned, Erica is also planning a diabolical strategy that she believes will guarantee her instant wealth while helping her extract revenge on federal prosecutors. While the Justice Department and IRS officials once again deal with an ingenious and calculating criminal mastermind, more colorful characters surface that challenge the authority of the IRS. Meanwhile, the police are forced to deal with murder contracts placed on the head of Louie Lipschitz, who has incurred the wrath of more than a few of these characters.
Bruce Bronstein is a former IRS Tax Law Specialist who also worked in the Appeals Division where he handled some of the largest and most complex cases in the country. His 30 years of experience specializing in civil fraud cases brings distinct authenticity to his novels and takes the subject of tax controversy to new levels. Drawing five star reviews on Amazon.com, his informative and witty novels explore how controversial tax issues are handled by the various functions within the IRS and our legal system.
Bruce Bronstein is making a name for himself as a master storyteller in his four novels that tell riveting accounts of tax evasion and fraud and what it takes to go after the perpetrators. His lengthy career with the IRS, handling some of the country’s most complex and controversial cases, provides the backdrop for Bronstein’s compelling stories. His novels, a perfect blend of humor, crime and the inner workings of the IRS and our legal system, make for a read not easy to put down.
Stan, a corrupt tax lawyer, subject to disciplinary action for failing to meet the standard of conduct expected of tax practitioners, is involved in the death of an IRS agent. The agent’s death, which has been staged to look like an accident, is at the center of Bronstein’s first book Nondisclosable. When IRS officials find circumstantial evidence in the dead agent’s audit files that incriminate the lawyer, it’s rendered useless because they can’t disclose the information. Although police lack the hard evidence needed to solve the mystery, the IRS is prepared to extract revenge against the lawyer – who soon finds himself embroiled in a variety of criminal conspiracies. Forced to face legendary agent Louie Lipschitz, the lawyer fears there is no escape in sight…
Full Disclosure, Bronstein’s second book, shows the corrupt lawyer going to prison at the same time the department is prosecuting another case that involves the largest individual tax cheat in history. Before the case is concluded, it leads to yet another tax case that implicates a man who was once the most powerful person in the U.S. The consequences of the investigation take a deadly turn and potential witnesses suffer a horrible fate. To ensure the prosecution is successful, law enforcement officials must take extreme measures and make tough decisions that have them deal-making with a notorious figure. Full Disclosure takes readers on a roller-coaster ride through our criminal justice system, showing how the unpredictability of one case can impact another seemingly unrelated case in an ironic twist of fate.
Imagine a bribery conspiracy, fraud, abuse of power and illicit sex – now imagine it’s taking place within the IRS! In Den of Thieves, the third novel by Bronstein, a shocking discovery is made that undermines the integrity of the IRS when its own employees, responsible for the administration of the nation’s tax laws, are found to be manipulating the system in a plot so ingenious only one intrepid IRS agent can solve the mystery. As Lipschitz, their fearless agent, finds himself matching wits with a brilliant sociopath currently behind bars, it’s not certain that even he can overcome all the challenges placed in his path.
Due for release this summer, Reversal of Justice finds Erica Whitman plotting revenge against the federal government due to her imprisonment for her role in a conspiracy to defraud the IRS. As she schemes to have her conviction overturned, Erica is also planning a diabolical strategy that she believes will guarantee her instant wealth while helping her extract revenge on federal prosecutors. While the Justice Department and IRS officials once again deal with an ingenious and calculating criminal mastermind, more colorful characters surface that challenge the authority of the IRS. Meanwhile, the police are forced to deal with murder contracts placed on the head of Louie Lipschitz, who has incurred the wrath of more than a few of these characters.
Bruce Bronstein is a former IRS Tax Law Specialist who also worked in the Appeals Division where he handled some of the largest and most complex cases in the country. His 30 years of experience specializing in civil fraud cases brings distinct authenticity to his novels and takes the subject of tax controversy to new levels. Drawing five star reviews on Amazon.com, his informative and witty novels explore how controversial tax issues are handled by the various functions within the IRS and our legal system.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Chicago Mob Wives Episode 2 Sneak Peek
Get More: Mob Wives Chicago, Mob Wives Chicago
Mob Wives Chicago airs Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Chicago Is My F—ing Town - Episode 1 of Mob Wives Chicago
If you ever thought that the mob was just Staten Island, think again. “The mob is Chicago. It’s in the pavement, it’s everywhere,” Renee Fecarotta Russo explains in the first moments of Mob Wives Chicago. This is where the mob began.Now that we know Chicago is where is began, let’s meet the ladies.
Renee is the niece of Big John Fecarotta, an alleged enforcer for the mob who was gunned down in 1986, shot in the back by his best friend.
Before he died, he treated Renee like a princess, and that’s just how Renee treats her own daughters, Giana who’s 20 years old (damn, Renee, you look good for the mom of a 20-year-old!) and Isabella, age 10. Giana’s father is in prison and has been for thirteen years, and unlike the women from Staten Island, making prison visits is not a priority. “I haven’t visited him this whole time, and I never want to see him again,” she says. Giana wants to know her dad though, and Renee can’t stand the idea that she wants to visit a man who was not only convicted of murder, but who was never there for her as a dad. “This guy is so horrible that I really don’t want him near my daughter.” Giana disagrees.
Nora Schweihs
Nora knows Chicago is a corrupt town and explains that the stuff we’ve seen on The Sopranos is kid stuff compared to what happens on a day-to-day in Chicago. Nora’s dad is Frank “The German” Schweihs, who is the most notorious hit man in Chicago. Just don’t insinuate that he killed Marilyn Monroe, because Nora will stab you. “Mind your own business and shut the f— up about my dad,” seems to be Nora’s motto. Nora was best friends with her dad. She still might be, his whereabouts are currently unknown. Though he was presumed to have passed away in prison, the day of the funeral, the funeral director called her family and told them that the FBI confiscated his body. She’s absolutely tortured by the fact that she was never able to say goodbye to the man she loved. After a decade in Florida, Nora moved back to Chicago and plans to find out just what happened to her dad. Reality shows don’t have nearly enough mystery, so here’s to hoping Nora’s story finds some resolution, because now I’m dying to know what happened to her dad, too.
Pia Rizza
Vince Rizza was a crooked Chicago cop turned government informant. His daughter, Pia, is not a fan of rats and considers him an embarrassment to her family. She’s had to live with the stigma of having a cooperator in the family, and admits that, when asked about her father, she tells people he’s dead. Pia’s a single mom who works at a strip club which she’s totally fine with, but Nora looks down on. “She’s so much better than working at the strip club,” Nora says. “It’s just a job,” Pia says. A job that brings in thousands of dollars a night, sometimes.
Nora feels comfortable enough talking about Pia’s job though because they go way back and their families have history and they’re like sisters. Which also gives Pia the freedom to tell us that “Nora gets a bad rap because a lot of people think she’s f—ing nuts.” I look forward to seeing that side of her. But for now, Nora just wants Pia to get her life together and find a more respectable profession. Pia takes offense to that notion.
Renee doesn’t know Pia that well, but she feels the same way about the stripping (“What she does is an embarrassment…Get off the pole.”) and to boot, she’s heard that Pia is a goumada, a mistress to several married men.
Renee admits to being judgmental, but what she really should have said was she is Judge Judy, Judge Wapner, and Judge Joe Brown all rolled into one. She can’t stand Pia’s profession, she knows Pia’s father is a rat and thinks that’s a disgrace. “Obviously this girl has no integrity,” Renee tells Nora. Do I sense our first beef of the season?
Norah just wants to have a nice girls’ night out with all the women so they can get to know each other, and suggests that maybe Pia will grown on Renee. “Like mold?” Renee asks. But before girls night happens, Pia’s cousin Anthony calls her to tell her he saw Nora out at a club, and Nora was talking smack about Pia. Sounds like Renee’s judgmental ways rubbed off, because Anthony says Nora was calling her a b—h and a whore. “Nobody talks s— about me,” Pia says. Oooh, it’s actually a race to see whose beef will blossom first this season!
Before that can happen, we meet Christina Scoleri. Born and bred in Little Italy, Christina grew up a fighter who’s used to watching her back. Christina’s father is a burglar for the mob. Though she’s loyal to her dad, she’s “definitely not the girl to take over the family business,” she says. After a ten-year marriage, she’s recently divorced but still living with her ex-husband. “I know it’s a little weird.” I mean, okay, it is a little weird, but whats weirder is that no one in Christina’s family knows they’re divorced, not even her nine-year-old daughter who lives with them. Well, we know where Christina’s Mob Wives salary is going to go, paying off the years of therapy her daughter’s going to need to figure out this situation. Christina knows she needs to get out though, that’s for sure.
Pia is Christina’s friend and has been for over ten years, and Christina doesn’t really know the other women. Pia tells Christina the things her cousin heard Nora saying, specifically that she’s a “c—t,” and Christina can’t believe it but advises Pia to address it “in a nice way first” before raising fists. Christina sounds wiser by the minute, also saying that the issue should be addressed before the girls’ night out so it’s not tense for everyone.
Rounding out the pack is Leah Desimone, another native of Little Italy, a self-professed chubby-chaser, and a woman whose father kept his mob indiscretions hidden from her view. Leah still lives at home with her father, so in case you thought Christina had the weirdest living situation of the bunch, she’s got some competition. “I don’t wanna leave my father!” Leah says.
She’s connected to the gang through Christina, as they both grew up on the same street, but she knows who the other girls are. Christina tells Leah about the Pia-Nora drama and Leah sums up the situation by saying “Nora and Pia are two balloon-heads. I’ve never seen a friendship like this before in my life.”
Leah is going to be absent from girls’ night because she’ll be out of town, and that means we won’t have access to her running commentary and Italian slang for a scene or two, which bums me out. What the crap is a bazzarelle? Because my Google translator isn’t finding it. Leah says it’s best that she’s not there though, because she will throw down if necessary, and anything can trigger her.
On to girls night… Nora is the only person who’s looking at this thing optimistically. She wants everyone to hang out, have a good time, meet one another. But no one else is psyched because of what they’ve heard, or think they’ve heard through the Chicago grapevine.
“Are the girls late or are we early?” Renee asks, and Nora mentions that Pia’s usually late. “That’s disrespectful,” Renee says, and already it feels like trouble’s brewing. Poor Pia has no idea how Renee feels because she tells us “I like Renee, I think she’s a fun girl.”
When Pia and Christina arrive, so far so good. Hugs all around! But then Pia starts talking about some unsavory behavior, like the time she was in Florida and drank a pitcher and a half of mojitos, and Renee looks at her like she wants to drown her in an above-ground pool full of mojitos. And if her dirty looks weren’t enough to make Pia feel unwelcome, Renee broaches the subject of Pia’s father being a rat, and Pia explains that her father was a rat but that she is nothing like him. Renee doesn’t push the envelope, but she also doesn’t warn to Pia, even after that reassurance.
We already have two potential beefs in the room, but now we get a third once Christina brings up the topic of Nora’s dad being a hit man. No one ever told Christina that this subject was off-limits, apparently. “What would make you bring such a sore subject into such a happy moment?” Nora asks. “My dad didn’t kill any-f—ing-body.”
“Nora’s in f—ing la la land about what her dad used to do,” Christina tells us. Again, loving Christina’s to-the-point honesty. I wonder if it will come back to bite her? (This is also the same women who admits “I could drink, like, a kegger of shots!” during the night. I also wonder if that will come back to bite her.)
Renee notices that Christina is like halfway through her kegger of shots and she’s like “Slow down, killer!” But the moment we assumed would happen finally happens, Pia tells the girls “I have to address something.”
“I have to tell Nora about what I heard.” Pia tells Nora what her cousin told her, and Nora’s response is very lawyer-y. “Tell him to get it on tape, and then I’ll believe what I said,” she says, basically talking in circles because I don’t really know what she means. “It’s hearsay.” Finally she tells Pia “I never said it.”
“I don’t know if Nora called Pia a whore, but I wouldn’t blame her if she did,” Renee says. “If it looks like a duck and it walks like a duck…quack quack.”
Nora and Pia actually talk things out and kiss, and Nora says “Love you, drop it.” Beef number one seems to actually be squashed, which seems miraculous.
Christina’s not dropping anything though. “You guys should have addressed this the next day,” she tells Pia, sticking to her guns of nipping drama in the bud. Except that she has no clue that she’s starting beef number three. Christina and her kegger of shots are losing control and she keeps pushing everyone’s buttons over an issue that’s already been resolved, and no one knows why. Judging from her face, I don’t even know if she knows why.
She holds fast to the notion that since Pia confided in her about this issue, it’s now her business, and she doesn’t like the way it was resolved after all.
“Shut the f— up!” Pia tells Christina. “Are you my friend or are you not my friend? Right now I don’t think you’re my friend!” she yells, getting up off her couch. “All of a sudden Christina’s like a raging junkyard dog.”
Christina tosses her drink at Nora who stepped in to separate them, and hell breaks loose. “This is completely out of control,” Renee says, as security tries to pry the women apart, but they are fused together at the hair extensions by now.
Once the dust clears, Renee still finds a way to place the blame on Pia, saying “Pia she just has no class. She’s just a piece of s—.”
Introductions are complete, welcome to the world of Mob Wives Chicago.
Thanks to Elizabeth Black
Thursday, June 14, 2012
19 Imperial Gangsters Arrested
Nineteen Chicago-area men, many suspected members or associates of the of the Imperial Gangsters street gang, were arrested Tuesday by FBI special agents and Chicago Police officers assigned to the FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs, culminating a nearly three-year long investigation that targeted illicit drug and firearms sales in and around the Humboldt park area on Chicago’s near northwest side.
Tuesday’s arrests were announced by Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who was joined by Garry F. McCarthy, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (CPD); Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Anita Alvarez, Cook County State’s Attorney; Lisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General; and Michael Witz, Chief of the Franklin Park Police Department.
Some of the charges were contained in 12 separate criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, which were unsealed yesterday and which charged 13 current or former Chicago-area residents with distribution of a controlled substance or violating federal firearms laws. Six others were charged with violating state drug or firearms laws in charges filed in Cook County and Whiteside County Circuit Court.
According to the federal complaints, between December 2009 and May 2012, eight defendants identified below intentionally distributed a controlled substance, either cocaine or heroin, in amounts ranging from 28 to 62 grams. Five others, also identified below and all of whom have prior felony convictions, are alleged to have possessed various makes and models of firearms, both handguns and assault type rifles between December 2009 and November 2011.
The investigation leading to the charges announced today was conducted by the Chicago FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs, which is comprised of FBI special agents and officers from the Chicago Police Department. Officers from the Franklin Park Police Department and the Sterling Police Department also assisted. The charges announced today are part of an ongoing and coordinated effort by the FBI and CPD’s Organized Crime Bureau and Gang Investigations Division to identify those responsible for supplying illicit drugs and firearms to Chicago’s criminal element, which are often used in street violence.
Investigators made extensive use of undercover and controlled purchases of illegal narcotics and firearms and court-authorized electronic surveillance of telephones utilized by some of the defendants in this case, both of which helped lead to the filing of the charges announced today. During the course of the investigation, over a kilogram of crack cocaine, over 250 grams of powder cocaine and approximately 125 grams of heroin were recovered. In addition, 31 firearms, approximately $4,000 in cash and three vehicles were seized.
In announcing the charges, Mr. Grant reaffirmed a commitment to investigate and prosecute those who engage in activities that threaten our communities. “Yesterday’s arrests should serve as a warning to those who persist in endangering our communities through the sale of drugs and guns. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to find you, to hold you accountable, and to make our neighborhoods safe for the many innocent residents who often pay a huge price for the acts of a few.”
“The street gang targeted in this mission is a violent, organized criminal organization with a history of violence in our city, including the shooting of a Chicago Police officer,” said Superintendent McCarthy. “This investigation especially highlights the entrenched relationship between gangs, guns, and drugs, and demonstrates that the Chicago Police and our federal law enforcement partners are committed to confronting and eradicating the problem,” he added.
Regarding the combined efforts that led to the charges, Attorney General Madigan said, “These arrests demonstrate how effective coordination between law enforcement agencies at all levels can produce significant results in fighting drug dealing and gang activity.”
Those arrested yesterday who were charged with violating federal drug laws are identified as:
- Victor Arroyo, age 30, 2333 North Ashland, Chicago
- Richard Cruz, age 29, 2831 North Kostner, Chicago
- Jose Hernandez, age 40, 4351 West Palmer, Chicago
- Faisal Khan, age 26, 2202 North Rockwell, Chicago
- Oscar Montanez, age 33, 2710 South Lombard, Berwyn
- Rogelio Perez, age 37, 4840 West Henderson, Chicago
- Sergio Sanchez, age 25, 1643 North Parkside, Chicago
- Lawrence Wade, age 41, 0 South 041 Page Street, Winfield
Those arrested yesterday who were charged federally with felon-in-possession of a firearm are identified as:
- Jaime Corral, age 32, 880 Joyce, Leyden Township
- Lazaro Corral, age 29, 920 North Roberta Avenue, Melrose Park
- Martin Murillo, age 29, 2433 West Arthington, Chicago
- Miguel Pedraza, age 30, 1935 North Central Park Avenue, Chicago
- Ismael Velasquez, 31, 2139 North Keystone, Chicago
Those arrested on state charges are identified as:
- Julio Collaza, age 42, 5918 West Waveland, Chicago
- Craig Hartman, age 26, 1507 East 14th Street, Sterling
- Elvis Lebron, age 39, 2528 N. Linder, Chicago
- Ramon Marrero, age 31, 4321 South Paulina, Chicago
- Catalino Soto, age 55, 5729 South Trumbull, Chicago
- Francisco Wolf, age 32, 23 King Arthur Court, Northlake
Those arrested on federal charges appeared yesterday before Magistrate Judge Nan R. Nolan in Chicago, at which time they were formally charged. All were ordered held until their next scheduled court appearances. If convicted, those charged with possession of on excess of 50 grams of crack cocaine face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ incarceration; those charged with possession of in excess of five grams of crack cocaine face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ incarceration; and those charged with felon-in-possession of a firearm face a possible sentence of up to 10 years’ incarceration.
Those arrested on state charges were scheduled to appear in bond court at dates and times to be determined. If convicted, they face possible sentences of up to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Henry Hill, Mobster from Goodfellas Fame, Dies
Henry Hill, the famed mobster turned FBI informant whose life story was documented in the book "Wiseguy"- upon which Martin Scorsese's 1990 gangster epic "Goodfellas" was based - has died at the age of 69.
Hill died at a Los Angeles hospital of an undisclosed illness on Tuesday, Nate Caserta, the son of Hill's fiancé Lisa Schinelli Casterta, confirmed.
"[His] heart just stopped. He had been sick for a long time," Nate Caserta told ABC News.
"I will never be the same. I lost someone I cared about a lot . Someone who loved my family and helped me a lot with life," Nate Caserta wrote in a post on Facebook. "You truly lived a life no one could live. You touched so many peoples lifes. Your spirit lives forever with me."
Caserta told ABC News that his family was talking about Hill's smoking problem while his health deteriorated.
Hill was famously associated with New York's Lucchese crime family throughout the 1960s and into the 1980s. He began his life of crime at the age of 11 while growing up on the working class East New York section of Brooklyn by running errands for Paul Vario, a captain in the Lucchese family.
"It's an intoxicating lifestyle that sucks you in. Then you get too scared, and too in love with the money, to leave," Hill told "Good Morning America" in 2004. "All people do is fear you - and that's intoxicating. It's a strange lifestyle."
Hill completed his first major robbery when he and Thomas DeSimone - who was portrayed in an Oscar-winning performance by Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas" - famously robbed Air France of a shipment of $420,000 in April of 1967.
In the 1970s Hill spent six years in prison after he was found guilty of extortion. While in prison, with the help of his wife Karen, Hill still managed to operate outside the law by smuggling drugs and food. He was eventually released early in 1978 for being a model prisoner.
Hill became an FBI informant following a 1980 arrest on a narcotics-trafficking charge, and testimony he delivered led to 50 arrests.
Hill, his wife Karen and their two children entered the witness protection program and changed their names. They were relocated to several locations in Omaha, Neb., Independence, Ky., and Redmond, Wash.
Hill and his wife were expelled from the program in the early 1990s following several arrests on narcotics-related charge. The couple soon divorced. Later he relocated to Malibu and began dating Lisa Caserta, began to sell his own artwork on eBay, and made frequent guest appearances on "The Howard Stern Show".
In 2010, Hill was inducted in the Museum of the American Gangster in New York City.
Ray Liota portrayed Hill in "Goodfellas," which was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi published the book "Wiseguy" in 1986.
Thanks to Kevin Dolak.
Hill died at a Los Angeles hospital of an undisclosed illness on Tuesday, Nate Caserta, the son of Hill's fiancé Lisa Schinelli Casterta, confirmed.
"[His] heart just stopped. He had been sick for a long time," Nate Caserta told ABC News.
"I will never be the same. I lost someone I cared about a lot . Someone who loved my family and helped me a lot with life," Nate Caserta wrote in a post on Facebook. "You truly lived a life no one could live. You touched so many peoples lifes. Your spirit lives forever with me."
Caserta told ABC News that his family was talking about Hill's smoking problem while his health deteriorated.
Hill was famously associated with New York's Lucchese crime family throughout the 1960s and into the 1980s. He began his life of crime at the age of 11 while growing up on the working class East New York section of Brooklyn by running errands for Paul Vario, a captain in the Lucchese family.
"It's an intoxicating lifestyle that sucks you in. Then you get too scared, and too in love with the money, to leave," Hill told "Good Morning America" in 2004. "All people do is fear you - and that's intoxicating. It's a strange lifestyle."
Hill completed his first major robbery when he and Thomas DeSimone - who was portrayed in an Oscar-winning performance by Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas" - famously robbed Air France of a shipment of $420,000 in April of 1967.
In the 1970s Hill spent six years in prison after he was found guilty of extortion. While in prison, with the help of his wife Karen, Hill still managed to operate outside the law by smuggling drugs and food. He was eventually released early in 1978 for being a model prisoner.
Hill became an FBI informant following a 1980 arrest on a narcotics-trafficking charge, and testimony he delivered led to 50 arrests.
Hill, his wife Karen and their two children entered the witness protection program and changed their names. They were relocated to several locations in Omaha, Neb., Independence, Ky., and Redmond, Wash.
Hill and his wife were expelled from the program in the early 1990s following several arrests on narcotics-related charge. The couple soon divorced. Later he relocated to Malibu and began dating Lisa Caserta, began to sell his own artwork on eBay, and made frequent guest appearances on "The Howard Stern Show".
In 2010, Hill was inducted in the Museum of the American Gangster in New York City.
Ray Liota portrayed Hill in "Goodfellas," which was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi published the book "Wiseguy" in 1986.
Thanks to Kevin Dolak.
Debra Gauthier's "Bright Lights, Dark Places"
Little could stand in Debra Gauthier's way. A marathon runner, Debra excelled in the Police Academy, garnering respect as one of the few female police officers in Las Vegas. However, through her twenty-one years on the police force, Debra faced discrimination in the male-dominated profession, suffering demotions and unsafe working conditions when other officers would not provide backup. In addition to the disappointment of injustice, she struggled with her sexuality, becoming entrenched in a homosexual lifestyle. After establishing an identity as a respected police officer, Debra was devastated when her career crumbled. Bright Lights, Dark Places thoughtfully expresses the painful reality of combating biased attitudes and the joy that comes from surpassing limitations. Packed with fascinating stories of a vibrant career, from teaching at the academy to pioneering a bicycle patrol, Bright Lights, Dark Places gives you an inside look at the career of one of the first female officers in Las Vegas. You will be encouraged by this powerful story of one woman finding grace to overcome trials.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Effective Immediately, Illinois Enacts State Version of RICO to Target Street Gangs
Governor Pat Quinn today signed a tough new law to fight gang crime and reduce violence in Illinois. The new law empowers law enforcement with the ability to prosecute street gang leaders for the criminal acts of their organizations. Joining the governor was Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and local lawmakers.
"One of the best ways to make our neighborhoods safer is to go after street gang leaders who profit from crime," Governor Quinn said. "Gang leaders cannot be allowed to escape justice by hiding behind criminals who do their bidding. This law will help law enforcement get gangs off the street and keep them off.”
House Bill 1907, sponsored by Sen. Tony Munoz (D-Chicago) and Rep. Mike Zalewski (D-Chicago), is modeled off the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act that was designed to help law enforcement fight organized crime by treating criminal acts committed by members of the group as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise. Under this legislation, law enforcement in Illinois can more effectively target the street gang leaders who order and benefit from the crimes of lower-ranking members.
The Illinois Street Gang RICO was an initiative of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who recently formed the office’s first anti-racketeering unit to use the new law to build gang RICO cases involving multiple defendants with the goal of dismantling the street gang from the top down. The unit’s specially-trained prosecutors will also work with other State’s Attorney’s Offices throughout Illinois on how to apply the law effectively.
“For the first time in the history of our state, this new law will give local prosecutors the tools to identify and address patterns in multiple gang-related offenses and join different organized crime offenses and different offenders into a single court proceeding,” Alvarez said. “Prior to the signing of this bill, state prosecutors were typically only able to charge individual gang crimes and rarely, if ever, were able to prosecute and hold gang leaders accountable for the organized activities of the street gang and its rank-and-file members.”
Under the new law, gang members convicted of criminal conspiracy under the new law could face more than 30 years in prison depending on the associated crimes, and fines of up to $250,000 or twice the gross amount of any criminal proceeds. Illinois joins 31 other states in having racketeering statutes.
According to the Chicago Police Department, Chicago has the largest gang population in the country, with approximately 100,000 members in hundreds of factions. 75-80% of the city’s homicides are gang-related.
"On behalf of the children, families and neighbors of Chicago and across Illinois, I commend the Governor for signing HB1907 into law today, and I thank State Senator Tony Munoz and State Representative Mike Zalewski for their work on this bipartisan legislation and State's Attorney Anita Alvarez for her leadership on this issue," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "This law will give local law enforcement the power to prosecute gang leaders for crimes that they ordered others to commit and provide a critical tool to dismantle the structure of gangs that are targeting our neighborhoods."
"The Chicago Police Department is committed to making Chicago a safe place to live, work, and play for our residents and we will use all available resources, including the new RICO law, to ensure the safety of communities across the city of Chicago," said CPD Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy. "I commend Mayor Emanuel and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez for their leadership, State Senator Tony Munoz and Representative Mike Zalewski for their sponsorship, and Governor Pat Quinn for his support of this critical legislation and look forward to the positive effect this action will have in Chicago."
“As a former law enforcement officer, I’ve seen firsthand how gangs are destroying our neighborhoods,” said Sen. Tony Munoz. “The violence and the killing needs to stop for the good our children, our communities, and our city. This law sends a strong message to gangs that they can no longer dodge justice.”
“Under this law, judges and juries will be able to see the big picture when it comes to looking at the full impact of gangs in Illinois,” Rep. Mike Zalewski said. “Gangs that collectively benefit from crimes should not be able to escape criminal responsibility by letting junior members take the fall.”
The law takes effect immediately.
Vatican Bank Mafia Link Investigated by Prosecutors
The official request was made more than a month ago but so far the Vatican Bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works, has refused to disclose any records of the account held by father Ninni Treppiedi – who is currently suspended from serving as a priest.
Investigators want to know more about vast sums of money that are said to have passed through his account to establish if they were money laundering operations by on the run Mafia Godfather, Matteo Messina Denaro.
The reports emerged in the Italian media and came just two weeks after the head of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was sacked amid claims of power struggles and corruption within the Holy See which have been linked to the leaking of sensitive documents belonging to Pope Benedict XVI.
More in line with a Dan Brown thriller, it is not the first time that the Vatican Bank has been embroiled in claims of Mafia money laundering. Thirty years ago this month financier Roberto Calvi was found hanging under London's Blackfriars Bridge with cash and bricks stuffed into his pockets.
Initially City of London police recorded the death as suicide but Italian authorities believe it was murder after it emerged Calvi, known as God's Banker because of his links to the Vatican Bank, had been trying to launder millions of pounds of mob money via its accounts and through his own Banco Ambrosiano which had collapsed spectacularly.
Father Treppiedi, 36, was serving as a priest in Alcamo, near Trapani, said to be the richest parish on the Mafia's island stronghold of Sicily, and he was suspended after a series of questionable transactions of church funds and which has also led to his local bishop Francesco Micciche being sacked.
Trapani prosecutor Marcello Viola made the request six weeks ago for details of the account held by Father Treppiedi at the Institute of Religious Works to be disclosed but according to reports in Italian media, as yet the go ahead has still not been given by the Vatican.
In particular prosecutors are said to be looking at financial transactions made through Father Treppiedi's account at the Vatican Bank between 2007 and 2009 and which came to almost one million euros but paperwork explaining the source of the money is said to be missing.
Attention is also focusing on several land and property deals made by the parish which is in Messina Denaro's heartland in the area around Trapani and where he still commands fear and respect.
There is speculation that Gotti Tedeschi was aware of the possible Mafia link and was about to name names and police seized paperwork from his home which is said to detail his suspicions and which he had prepared for a handful of trusted sources as he feared his life was possible in danger.
In a statement prosecutor Viola said:"We have made a request for information to the Vatican City State in the spirit of collaboration with regard to an investigation into sums of money in financial transactions undertaken by the Diocese of Trapani."
Transactions by the Vatican Bank are already under the spotlight with leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera saying Gotti Tedeschi was aware of accounts held by "politicians, shady intermediaries, contractors and senior (Italian) officials, as well as people believed to be fronts for Mafia bosses."
Of particular interest are said to be property investments and property sales that could potentially have been used to disguise money transfers and launder money – all this in the light of report earlier this year that the Vatican Bank was not completely transparent in its dealings despite efforts to be so.
The latest development comes as prosecutors in the Vatican continue to question the Pope's butler Paolo Gabriele, 46, in connection with the leaking of documents which then ended up in a whistle blowing book published by an Italian journalist called His Holiness.
No-one from the Vatican was immediately available to comment.
Thanks to Nick Pisa
Death Sentence for Art Rachel?
During his decades as thief extraordinaire for the Chicago Outfit, 74-year-old Art Rachel has been known as "The Brain" or "The Genius" due to his brilliant burglary skills.
In federal court on Thursday though, it appeared Mr. Rachel didn't have the smarts to show sufficient remorse to the judge who was about to sentence him for his latest crime spree.
"We were bored and had nothing to do," Rachel explained to Judge Harry Leinenweber when the time came for him to make a final plea for leniency. "We weren't serious" about robbing banks, armored cars or the home of a late mob boss Rachel said. Then, almost as an afterthought, Rachel said he "could do better."
Judge Leinenweber, unimpressed by the Genius or his recitation, agreed that the allegedly ailing-gangster "could have done better." Leinenweber then handed Rachel a sentence of almost 8 1/2 years in federal prison. At Rachel's age, that could amount to a death sentence.
Earlier, Rachel's attorney Terry Gillespie told the judge that he was saddened to think that his client would "spend most or all the rest of his life in jail. There is a side of Arthur Rachel you haven't seen" Gillespie stated, "he should have something left of his life."
Rachel's life is marked by one case of skullduggery that stands out in the annals of Chicago mob history: the Great Marlborough Diamond Theft.
On Sept. 11, 1980 Rachel and his longtime Outfit partner Jerry "Monk" Scalise broke into this high-end jewelry store in London, England. They escaped with millions of dollars in gems including the once-royal Marlborough diamond-a 45 carat sparkler.
In a botched ending to one of the mob's greatest heists, Rachel and Scalise were nabbed at O'Hare Airport on the way back from Britain&although they didn't have the diamond and it has never been found.
Rachel's sentencing hearing in federal court on Thursday was against that historical backdrop. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet S. Bhachu noted the notorious diamond theft, Rachel's other "multiple convictions" for robbery and forgery and said he deserved no mercy.
"This thug has the gall to ask for leniency when he does the same thing over and over" Bhachu told the judge. "He is a parasite. He lives off of others. The public needs to be protected from this man."
Rachel, sporting a snow-white goatee, glasses and court-designer manacles, had no family members or friends present for the sentencing-although several had written letters on his behalf to the judge.
His Outfit partner Jerry Scalise was also charged in the current case along with Mob associate Robert "Bobby" Pullia. Scalise and Pullia pleaded guilty and have yet to be sentenced. Rachel took his case to trial and was convicted.
After the court sentencing, Rachel's attorney said he "found it to be a very sad hearing, maybe more than most because despite what the prosecutor said and the name calling I found him to be a very decent kind man." Lawyer Terry Gillespie told ABC7 that Rachel has "been always a gentleman, bright. I just got a sense that it's such a waste. He spent half his life in jail and now he's going to die there, but he had no excuses. He didn't allow me to present any excuses."
Thanks to Chuck Goudie and Ann Pistone.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Whitey Bulger's Girlfriend, Catherine Greig, Should Get 10 Years in Prison Says the Feds
The longtime girlfriend of Boston mob boss Whitey Bulger should spend a decade in federal prison because she knowingly protected one of the Northeast’s most violent fugitives for more than 16 years, prosecutors said.
In a sentencing memo filed in U.S. District Court, prosecutors say Catherine Greig not only concealed Bulger’s identity, but made it possible for him to live in hiding — paying bills, picking up prescription medication, and targeting people whose identities she and Bulger could later steal. The pair were finally discovered last year in Santa Monica.
“This is no garden variety harboring case,” First Assistant U.S. Atty. Jack Pirozzolo wrote in the filing, submitted Friday in Boston. “It is the most extreme case of harboring this District has seen.”
Greig is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.
Bulger, 82, pleaded not guilty to charges linked to 19 slayings from the 1970s and '80s during his time as the leader of the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish American crime ring in Boston, prosecutors say. He also worked as an FBI informant. Bulger is awaiting trial.
Greig, 61, pleaded guilty in March to charges of identify fraud, conspiracy to commit identify fraud and conspiracy to harbor a fugitive.
Although the charges Greig faces could result in a maximum of 15 years in prison, prosecutors have said she could get as little as 32 months. The prosecution recommended a longer prison term and asked that Greig pay a $150,000 fine.
“High-profile defendants such as Bulger require substantial assistance if they are to remain fugitives,” Pirozzolo wrote. “… Greig must know that there is a high price to be paid for choosing personal affection and loyalty over their legal obligations.”
After an FBI agent warned Bulger in late 1994 that he was about to be indicted, the mob boss fled Massachusetts with one girlfriend in tow, prosecutor say. He came back to Boston a few weeks later. He dropped off the first girlfriend and picked up Greig, who left her car and poodles with the first girlfriend, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say Bulger and Greig spent the first year on the run posing as a married couple, traveling to Chicago, New York and Louisiana. They settled in Santa Monica, where they lived in a rent-controlled apartment not far from the Pacific Ocean. Behind a secret wall in the two-bedroom apartment, Bulger stashed 30 weapons and more than $820,000 in cash, prosecutors say.
Bulger spent years on the FBI's "10 most wanted fugitives" list. He and Greig were arrested in June 2011 in Santa Monica after a tipster recognized them.
Thanks to Laura J. Nelson.
In a sentencing memo filed in U.S. District Court, prosecutors say Catherine Greig not only concealed Bulger’s identity, but made it possible for him to live in hiding — paying bills, picking up prescription medication, and targeting people whose identities she and Bulger could later steal. The pair were finally discovered last year in Santa Monica.
“This is no garden variety harboring case,” First Assistant U.S. Atty. Jack Pirozzolo wrote in the filing, submitted Friday in Boston. “It is the most extreme case of harboring this District has seen.”
Greig is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.
Bulger, 82, pleaded not guilty to charges linked to 19 slayings from the 1970s and '80s during his time as the leader of the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish American crime ring in Boston, prosecutors say. He also worked as an FBI informant. Bulger is awaiting trial.
Greig, 61, pleaded guilty in March to charges of identify fraud, conspiracy to commit identify fraud and conspiracy to harbor a fugitive.
Although the charges Greig faces could result in a maximum of 15 years in prison, prosecutors have said she could get as little as 32 months. The prosecution recommended a longer prison term and asked that Greig pay a $150,000 fine.
“High-profile defendants such as Bulger require substantial assistance if they are to remain fugitives,” Pirozzolo wrote. “… Greig must know that there is a high price to be paid for choosing personal affection and loyalty over their legal obligations.”
After an FBI agent warned Bulger in late 1994 that he was about to be indicted, the mob boss fled Massachusetts with one girlfriend in tow, prosecutor say. He came back to Boston a few weeks later. He dropped off the first girlfriend and picked up Greig, who left her car and poodles with the first girlfriend, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say Bulger and Greig spent the first year on the run posing as a married couple, traveling to Chicago, New York and Louisiana. They settled in Santa Monica, where they lived in a rent-controlled apartment not far from the Pacific Ocean. Behind a secret wall in the two-bedroom apartment, Bulger stashed 30 weapons and more than $820,000 in cash, prosecutors say.
Bulger spent years on the FBI's "10 most wanted fugitives" list. He and Greig were arrested in June 2011 in Santa Monica after a tipster recognized them.
Thanks to Laura J. Nelson.
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Christopher Varlesi Indicted for Allegedly Causing 15 Investors to Lose Approximately $600,000 in Ponzi-Type Fraud Scheme
A Chicago man who operated an investment trading pool allegedly fraudulently obtained approximately $1.4 million and caused some 15 individual investors to lose about $600,000, federal law enforcement officials announced today. The defendant, Christopher Varlesi, was charged with six counts of mail and wire fraud in an indictment returned yesterday by a federal grand jury. Varlesi allegedly misappropriated a substantial portion of investor funds for his own benefit, including misusing $99,750 in May 2010 to pay for a year’s rent for an apartment in the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago and to make Ponzi-type payments to other investors.
Varlesi, 53, of Chicago, will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court. He was the sole proprietor of Gold Coast Futures & Forex, which purported to buy and sell securities and commodities and operate a pool of investor money for trading purposes but was not actually registered or licensed to do so. The indictment seeks forfeiture of approximately $600,000.
The charges were announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Illinois Securities Department assisted in the investigation, as did the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which filed a civil enforcement lawsuit against Varlesi in March of this year.
According to the indictment, between July 2008 and January 2012, Varlesi made false representations to clients about using their money to trade gold, commodity futures, and foreign currency, the expected return on their investments, and the security of their money. He fraudulently retained investors’ funds and concealed the scheme by creating and distributing false account statements and making Ponzi-type payments to investors, the charges allege. Varlesi also allegedly told clients that their investments were guaranteed to be profitable, with no risk of losing principal. As part of the scheme, the charges allege that he provided promissory notes to certain investors, falsely promising to return the entire principal amount of their investment, as well as guaranteed interest ranging between five to 7.5 percent per month.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Streicker.
Each count of wire and mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and restitution is mandatory. The court may also impose a fine totaling twice the loss to any victim or twice the gain to the defendant, whichever is greater. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The investigation falls under the umbrella of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit: www.stopfraud.gov.
An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Varlesi, 53, of Chicago, will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court. He was the sole proprietor of Gold Coast Futures & Forex, which purported to buy and sell securities and commodities and operate a pool of investor money for trading purposes but was not actually registered or licensed to do so. The indictment seeks forfeiture of approximately $600,000.
The charges were announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Illinois Securities Department assisted in the investigation, as did the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which filed a civil enforcement lawsuit against Varlesi in March of this year.
According to the indictment, between July 2008 and January 2012, Varlesi made false representations to clients about using their money to trade gold, commodity futures, and foreign currency, the expected return on their investments, and the security of their money. He fraudulently retained investors’ funds and concealed the scheme by creating and distributing false account statements and making Ponzi-type payments to investors, the charges allege. Varlesi also allegedly told clients that their investments were guaranteed to be profitable, with no risk of losing principal. As part of the scheme, the charges allege that he provided promissory notes to certain investors, falsely promising to return the entire principal amount of their investment, as well as guaranteed interest ranging between five to 7.5 percent per month.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Streicker.
Each count of wire and mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and restitution is mandatory. The court may also impose a fine totaling twice the loss to any victim or twice the gain to the defendant, whichever is greater. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The investigation falls under the umbrella of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit: www.stopfraud.gov.
An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Fidel Urbina of Chicago is Added to FBI's Ten Most Wanted List
Fidel Urbina, age 37, whose last known address was in the 2100 block of South Fairfield, has been the subject of a nationwide manhunt since 1999 after being charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution following the aggravated criminal sexual assault of a Chicago woman.
In March 1998, Urbina was arrested by the CPD and later charged with kidnapping, brutally beating, and raping a woman in Chicago. Subsequent to his arrest, Urbina was released on bond pending his trial in Cook County Circuit Court. While out on bond, Urbina was also suspected of assaulting and bludgeoning to death 22-year-old Gabriella Torres. Her body was found in the trunk of an automobile, which had been abandoned in an alley in the 2300 block of West 50th Street in Chicago. The vehicle had been set on fire and Torres’ body was badly burned. Urbina has since been charged with this crime as well. Attempts to locate and apprehend Urbina by local police were unsuccessful, as he had apparently fled the state.
On July 20, 1999, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Urbina and on August 26, 2006, a provisional arrest warrant was signed by a Mexican Federal Magistrate. Despite extensive investigation, including the case being profiled nationally on “America’s Most Wanted” and locally on “Chicago’s Most Wanted,” Urbina remains at large and his whereabouts are unknown. As such, the FBI is renewing its request for assistance from the public in locating and apprehending this wanted fugitive.
In making this announcement, Mr. Grant noted the continued threat to the community that Urbina poses. Said Mr. Grant, “Fidel Urbina is wanted for his alleged role in two brutal attacks directed against innocent women. These crimes have demonstrated his violent nature and the need to locate and apprehend Urbina before he can strike again. We are hoping that the publicity associated with this case, along with the significant reward being offered, will lead to his arrest.”
Urbina, who is a Mexican national, is described as a Hispanic male, 37 years of age, 6’0” tall, having a medium build, and weighing approximately 170 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes, and a severely pockmarked right cheek. He has been known to use numerous aliases, including the names Lorenzo Maes, Fernando Ramos, and Fidel Urbina Aquirre.
The search for Urbina is being coordinated by the Chicago FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF), which is comprised of FBI special agents, detectives from the Chicago Police Department, and Cook County Sheriff’s Police investigators.
Urbina is the 497th person to be placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, which was established in 1950. Urbina replaces Adam Christopher Mayes, who was wanted for the murder of a woman and her daughter and the kidnapping of her two small children from their home in Tennessee.
A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information leading to the location and arrest of Urbina. Anyone recognizing him or having any information as to his current whereabouts is asked to call the Chicago FBI at (312) 421-6700 or the nearest law enforcement agency.
Given the nature of the charges filed against him, Urbina should be considered armed and dangerous.
Additional information about this case and the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives program can be found online at www.fbi.gov.
The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Will "Mob Wives Chicago" Knock Off The "Real Housewives"?
VH1 attempts to challenge the "Real Housewives" throne by expanding its mafia-centric franchise into the Windy City.
By 2011, The Real Housewives empire had spread itself conspicuously thin with formualic spinoffs stretching from Beverly Hills to Manhattan. True, cliques of social-climbing, bourgeois women playing out their often petty dramas while the cameras rolled had proven to be a lucrative enterprise, but by the time the Miami franchise debuted last year — let's face it — the whole endeavor was feeling a tad stale.
To the rescue came Mob Wives, VH1's gritty challenger to the Housewives throne, which infused a whole new level of violence, passion and heartbreak into the gender-centric genre. Created by Jennifer Graziano, the daughter of Bonanno crime family consigliere Anthony Graziano, the show's characters were as vivid and conflicted as those found on The Sopranos or in Goodfellas. Comprised of Drita D'Avanzo, Renee Graziano, Karen Gravano and Carla Facciolo, the original cast was unlike any found in reality television at the time. But because Hollywood has never learned the virtue of leaving well enough alone, two highly rated seasons of Mob Wives have brought us the invitable expansion of this new fledgling empire.
Mob Wives: Chicago, like all five of the Real Housewives sequels that followed Orange County, doesn't try to tinker with the original recipe. In fact, it apes every opening move of the first series save for the change of setting. As with its forerunner, the premiere episode introduces us to a cast of brassy, foul-mouthed, mafia-connected women before tossing them together with an ample amout of tequila in a bar to see how long it will take for a fight to break out.
"I may be a nice girl, the average mom rolling her grocery cart down the street, but there's a bitch in here if you bring her out," boasts Christina Scoleri, the daughter of one-time mob thief Raymond Janek.
All too happy to help bring out Scoleri's inner bitch are Renee Fecarotta Russo, a pretty blond with a boob job whose uncle, "Big John" Fecarotta, was said to be a loan collecter and hit man for the mob, and Pia Rizza, a stripper and mother whose dirty cop dad testified against his mafia bosses before disappearing into the witness protection program.
"People say I'm a judgmental bitch, but I'm about class, respect and loyalty," a gesticulating Russo says in a cut away shot. "And if you don't show me that, well then we're gonna have a f***ing problem."
Among Russo's problems is Rizza's chosen line of work, and, because no self-respecting mob wife (not a literal description, mind you) could ever be accused of shyness, she makes it known that she intends to tell her as much before the conclusion of episode one.
"I try to keep it real, so I think now is a pretty good time to tell Pia how I feel about her," Russo says.
The oddball center of gravity of the cast is Nora Schweihs, daughter of notorious mob hit man Frank "The German" Schweihs. If the conceit of Mob Wives Chicago is to be believed, Schweihs has gotten the old gang back together again after returning to town in a quest to dig up father's grave to make sure his body resides in the casket.
"Nora gets a bad rap, because a lot of people think she's f***ing nuts," Rizza, who has known Schweihs for more than a dozen years, explains.
Mob Wives Chicago's stellar production team — which includes Graziano, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Meryl Poster, Ben Silverman, Jimmy Fox, Banks Tarver, Ken Druckerman, Nina Diaz and Jack Tarantino — obligingly fill out the cast with Leah Desimone, the short-fused daughter of alleged mob associate William "Wolf" DeSimone. Showing little patience for the behind the back gossip that typifies the show, DeSimone offers a near constant stream of violent invectives.
"Who wants a friend like that?" DeSimone tells Scoleri while shopping for clothes. "If somebody treated me that way I would hit them in the head with a shovel."
Preoccupied with amping up the animosity among its cast before the aforementioned bar blowout, Mob Wives Chicago doesn't feel nearly as organic as the original show. Instead of delving into conflicted feelings about the mafia that made Graziano and Gravano such interesting characters on Mob Wives, we are given gratuitous plot lines and a pacing that makes the show feel more like Basketball Wives LA.But the biggest problem for the Chicago version is that we've now seen this type of character before, and it feels like the new cast has spent a fair amount of time watching the first show so as to perfect their tough girl schtick. While Chicago may not be the last Mob Wives spinoff we'll see before this juggernaut is laid to rest, its staying power will require tapping into something new from its characters other than sassy hometown boosterism.
"I don't care what my father did, I don't care what the next person's father did," DeSimone says without apparent signs of irony, "Keep your fucking mouth shut, that's what Chicago's all about."
Thanks to David Knowles
By 2011, The Real Housewives empire had spread itself conspicuously thin with formualic spinoffs stretching from Beverly Hills to Manhattan. True, cliques of social-climbing, bourgeois women playing out their often petty dramas while the cameras rolled had proven to be a lucrative enterprise, but by the time the Miami franchise debuted last year — let's face it — the whole endeavor was feeling a tad stale.
To the rescue came Mob Wives, VH1's gritty challenger to the Housewives throne, which infused a whole new level of violence, passion and heartbreak into the gender-centric genre. Created by Jennifer Graziano, the daughter of Bonanno crime family consigliere Anthony Graziano, the show's characters were as vivid and conflicted as those found on The Sopranos or in Goodfellas. Comprised of Drita D'Avanzo, Renee Graziano, Karen Gravano and Carla Facciolo, the original cast was unlike any found in reality television at the time. But because Hollywood has never learned the virtue of leaving well enough alone, two highly rated seasons of Mob Wives have brought us the invitable expansion of this new fledgling empire.
Mob Wives: Chicago, like all five of the Real Housewives sequels that followed Orange County, doesn't try to tinker with the original recipe. In fact, it apes every opening move of the first series save for the change of setting. As with its forerunner, the premiere episode introduces us to a cast of brassy, foul-mouthed, mafia-connected women before tossing them together with an ample amout of tequila in a bar to see how long it will take for a fight to break out.
"I may be a nice girl, the average mom rolling her grocery cart down the street, but there's a bitch in here if you bring her out," boasts Christina Scoleri, the daughter of one-time mob thief Raymond Janek.
All too happy to help bring out Scoleri's inner bitch are Renee Fecarotta Russo, a pretty blond with a boob job whose uncle, "Big John" Fecarotta, was said to be a loan collecter and hit man for the mob, and Pia Rizza, a stripper and mother whose dirty cop dad testified against his mafia bosses before disappearing into the witness protection program.
"People say I'm a judgmental bitch, but I'm about class, respect and loyalty," a gesticulating Russo says in a cut away shot. "And if you don't show me that, well then we're gonna have a f***ing problem."
Among Russo's problems is Rizza's chosen line of work, and, because no self-respecting mob wife (not a literal description, mind you) could ever be accused of shyness, she makes it known that she intends to tell her as much before the conclusion of episode one.
"I try to keep it real, so I think now is a pretty good time to tell Pia how I feel about her," Russo says.
The oddball center of gravity of the cast is Nora Schweihs, daughter of notorious mob hit man Frank "The German" Schweihs. If the conceit of Mob Wives Chicago is to be believed, Schweihs has gotten the old gang back together again after returning to town in a quest to dig up father's grave to make sure his body resides in the casket.
"Nora gets a bad rap, because a lot of people think she's f***ing nuts," Rizza, who has known Schweihs for more than a dozen years, explains.
Mob Wives Chicago's stellar production team — which includes Graziano, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Meryl Poster, Ben Silverman, Jimmy Fox, Banks Tarver, Ken Druckerman, Nina Diaz and Jack Tarantino — obligingly fill out the cast with Leah Desimone, the short-fused daughter of alleged mob associate William "Wolf" DeSimone. Showing little patience for the behind the back gossip that typifies the show, DeSimone offers a near constant stream of violent invectives.
"Who wants a friend like that?" DeSimone tells Scoleri while shopping for clothes. "If somebody treated me that way I would hit them in the head with a shovel."
Preoccupied with amping up the animosity among its cast before the aforementioned bar blowout, Mob Wives Chicago doesn't feel nearly as organic as the original show. Instead of delving into conflicted feelings about the mafia that made Graziano and Gravano such interesting characters on Mob Wives, we are given gratuitous plot lines and a pacing that makes the show feel more like Basketball Wives LA.But the biggest problem for the Chicago version is that we've now seen this type of character before, and it feels like the new cast has spent a fair amount of time watching the first show so as to perfect their tough girl schtick. While Chicago may not be the last Mob Wives spinoff we'll see before this juggernaut is laid to rest, its staying power will require tapping into something new from its characters other than sassy hometown boosterism.
"I don't care what my father did, I don't care what the next person's father did," DeSimone says without apparent signs of irony, "Keep your fucking mouth shut, that's what Chicago's all about."
Thanks to David Knowles
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Nora Schweihs Profile from Mob Wives Chicago
Leah Desimone Profile from Mob Wives Chicago
Saturday, June 02, 2012
Renee Fecarotta Russo Profile from Mob Wives Chicago
You’re going to be seeing a lot of Renee Fecarotta Russo this summer. Renee is one of the stars of Mob Wives Chicago, and like the other Renee we know and love, she is a true daughter of the mob, who values loyalty, respect, and independence. Check out Renee’s cast profile, where she explains that what you see is what you get. “I think I’m pretty true to what I say that I am,” she says. No camera gangsters here!
Friday, June 01, 2012
Pia Rizza Profile from Mob Wives Chicago
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