Veteran organized crime reporter and author George Anastasia (seen in the above photo) offers a piece on organized crime's moneymaking schemes for Bigtrial.net.
It was the underworld's version of a full service financial operation.
It featured bookmaking, loansharking and money laundering. Most of the wheeling and dealing took place in a Newark check cashing business.
The numbers, detailed in an indictment unsealed this week by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, were staggering. The loansharking business, according to the AG, generated $4.7 million in interest payments. The illegal check cashing business took in $9 million in fees while allowing customers to launder money and avoid federal tax reporting requirements. The sports betting operation, with an offshore wire room in Costa Rica, generated millions more.
"This case is a smorgasbord of mob schemes," said acting New Jersey Attorney General Robert Lougy in a news release that detailed the indictment of 10 alleged members and associates of the powerful Genovese crime family.
The charges stem from an investigation dubbed "Operation Fistful" that began in 2007. The probe was spearheaded by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and the Waterfront Commission. Among other crimes, the indictment alleges that several defendants took control of a trucking company that transported cars from the Port of Newark to dealerships throughout New Jersey. Authorities allege the trucking firm was a front for a series of mob scams, including forgery and tax evasion.
You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:
http://www.bigtrial.net/2016/04/the-mobs-theme-song-money-money-money.html
You can also read my Philadelphia Inquirer review of George Anastasia's latest book on organized crime, Gotti's Rules:
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