NEW JERSEY: A member and associate of Lucchese organized crime Mafia family along with an attorney and a CEO were convicted last week of taking over and looting FirstPlus Financial Group Inc, a publicly traded mortgage company in Texas.
The defendants funneled millions of dollars from the business to buy a yacht, a luxury home, a Bently automobile and spend thousands of dollars on jewelry, according to officials.
Nicodemo “Nicky” Scarfo, 49, of Galloway, N.J., a member of the Lucchese organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra, and Salvatore Pelullo, 47, of Philadelphia, an associate of the Lucchese and Philadelphia Cosa Nostra families, were convicted of all the counts against them, including racketeering conspiracy and related offenses, including fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
Two other defendants, William and John Maxwell, were also convicted. Co-defendants David Adler, Gary McCarthy and Donald Manno were acquitted on all counts, officials said.
“The defendants stole more than $12 million from shareholders through rampant self-dealing, fraudulent SEC filings and intimidation,” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said “The public should not have to worry that the interests of shareholders are being subverted to benefit organized crime or for other corrupt ends.”
Nicodemo “Nicky” Scarfo Jr. is the sone of convicted Philadelphia crime family boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo Sr.
The defendants were charged in an indictment returned in 2011 by a federal grand jury in Camden.
It named Nicodemo D. Scarfo (Scarfo Sr.) – Nicodemo “Little Nicky”. Scarfo Sr. who is in prison and imprisoned former boss and Vittorio Amuso, the imprisoned boss of the Lucchese family, as conspirators.
Officials said Scarfo Jr. and Pelullo used their illicit gains to fund extravagant purchases, including an $850,000 yacht for both defendants, a luxury home for Scarfo Jr., a Bentley automobile for Pelullo, and thousands of dollars in jewelry for Scarfo Jr.’s wife.”
The criminal activity costs FirstPlus Financial and its shareholders to suffer at least $12 million in losses.
The jury deliberated two weeks before delivering its verdicts following a six-month trial in Camden federal court.
According to the evidence at trial, this is what was presented to the jury:
Scarfo Jr. is a made member of the Lucchese family, having become a member after an attempt on his life in 1989 following an internal struggle for control of the Philadelphia family.
In the mid-1990s, while Scarfo Sr. and Amuso were in federal prison in Atlanta, Ga., Amuso arranged for Scarfo Jr. to become a member of the Lucchese family as a favor to Scarfo Sr.
- As a member of the Lucchese family, Scarfo Jr. was required to earn money and participate in the affairs of the Lucchese family.
- In April 2007, Scarfo, Pelullo and others devised a scheme to take over FirstPlus Financial.
- Scarfo Jr. and Pelullo used threats of economic harm to intimidate and remove the prior management and board of directors of replaced those officers with individuals beholden to Scarfo Jr. and Pelullo, including William Maxwell, an attorney from Houston, Texas, and his brother, John Maxwell, of Irving, Texas, who acted as the company’s CEO.
- Once the takeover was completed, the figurehead board named William Maxwell as “special counsel” to FirstPlus Financial, a position that he used to funnel approximately $12 million to himself, Scarfo and Pelullo through fraudulent legal services and consulting agreements.
- The agreements, as well as FirstFinancial’s fraudulent acquisitions of companies controlled by Scarfo Jr. and Pelullo, were designed to mask the true identity and nature of the control exerted over FirstPlus Financial and to conceal the source of the money fraudulently conveyed to Scarfo Jr. and Pelullo.
- In a telephone call intercepted by law enforcement, Pelullo called Scarfo to tell him about the sudden death of a former FirstFinancial executive.
- This former executive had provided information to Pelullo and Maxwell that they used to extort control of FirstFinancial.
- At the time of his death, he was employed by FirstPlus Financial as a member of its “compliance team.”
- During the conversation, Scarfo Jr. and Pelullo expressed relief regarding his death.
- After laughing about how he was “crushed” that “the rat is dead,” Pelullo acknowledged that the executive was “the only connection, the only tie to anything.”
“Oh boy. Yeah, Sal, you wanna know something though? That’s one that I know you can’t take credit for . . . [laughter] . . . and that’s the natural best thing,” Scarfo replied. “You know what I mean? That is so like Enron-ish. You know what I mean? Kenneth Lay, he bailed out and took a heart attack.”
Lucchese Crime Family Videos
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