Colombo Family busted for World Trade Center Site Scheme

Federal prosecutors have sent down indictments on multiple members of the Colombo Crime Family for an extortion scheme. There were a total of 6 members and associates of the Colombo family arrested on RICO charges stemming from a scheme being run at the World Trade Center site along with another site that bordered Brooklyn and Queens the Newton Creek Waster water treatment plant.

Arrested were Colombo family members Thomas Petrizzo and Theodore Persico Jr and Colomob associates Robert C. Bombino, Louis Romeo, Michael J. Persico, and Edward Garofalo. The Colombo crew used a mob controlled trucking company to execute the kickback scheme , All Around Trucking , was used for debris removal subcontracts from Boston based company Testa Corporation. The Fed’s allege that the Persico’s lead the extortion and kickback scheme where the trucking company would kick back a portion of the profits as a commercial bribe to a Testa company foreman.

The extortion scheme was brought to light by a cooperating witness which the Fed’s had infiltrate the Colombo Family operation. The witness made hundreds of recording which laid out various aspects of the operation for the FBI. The Colombo’s were even threatening employee’s of Testa after the company failed to make payments to the mob controlled trucking company on the proper time table that was laid out by Colombo Family members. The witness was able to record Michael Persico ordering Robert Bombino to threaten company employees , and also caught Bombino reporting back to Persico that Testa employees were “shaking in there boots”.

The Fed’s also say they caught Michael Persico shaking down a furniture store owner to give Bombino control over his store until he was able to repay a loan to the Colombo’s. The Colombo’s even had members stealing funds from a welfare benefit plan and pension benefits from union laborers of the Local 282 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. They worked what Fed’s called a “double-breasting” scheme where they used non-union shell companies controlled by the Colombo Family to circumvent the collective bargaining agreement union benefits requirements for the Local 282.

This just shows that the mafia continues to make money on various schemes from all sectors of the economy. As always the mob’s whole concern is making money and they as always are not afraid to use violence or the threat of violence to make sure the money continues to roll in. This also shows that the Colombo family is still very much in a position to conduct mafia business and may not be in as weakened a state as some think.