Richard Martino
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Martino (b. 1961) is allegedly a member of the Gambino crime family, one of New York's "Five Families". Martino is believed to have been involved in a scam that defrauded people of up to 750 million dollars. It was the largest consumer fraud case in American history.
Martino was an associate of Salvatore Locascio, whose father was the consigliere of mob boss John Gotti. Locascio was also a member of the Gambino crime family.
Martino, Locascio, and others created a porn website that supposedly offered free tours and required a credit card number to confirm age. Then they would bill the website visitors on a monthly basis without them knowing. Martino and Locascio also did a scheme called "cramming", in which they use a phone company to bill customers for unwanted services.
After many customer complaints from Internet and cell phone users, the FBI began to investigate. Martino was arrested, along with several others involved in the scam, and was charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Martino plead guilty to the charges. He had to forfeit several million dollars and may be sentenced to up to ten years in prison.
[edit] External links
- Gambino Mafia Rips Off U.S. Government, Porno Lovers and Cell Phone Users Across the Globe in Multi-Million Dollar Scheme. Retrieved on 2006-03-16.
- This Week in Gang Land: Dapper Don Was Right About Richie. Retrieved on 2006-11-15.
- MSNBC.com - Alleged mobsters guilty in vast Net, phone fraud Mafia scheme said to have netted $659 million over 7 years. Retrieved on 2006-11-15.
- Computer Crime Research: Mob nets $650 million from phone and internet fraud. Retrieved on 2006-11-15.
