Which WiseGuy was the largest earner ?

Over the past 25 - 30 yrs.. Lets not go back to the 60s.. Lets keep this modern mby 80's to now.. I was watching a video on gaspipe.. Seems like he made a killing..

Tough to say. Michael Franzese was an amazing earner. Others include Richard Martino, Tommy Gambino, Joseph Caridi, Danny Marino, Joe Watts, Vincent Basciano..

Tommy Gambino made a fortune with his garment business.
DeMeo made a packet in his day.
Gravano must of taken a hell of a wad off the construction projects
Danny Marino made alot.

Great question and impossible to know the facts. It is not like these guys declared their true income on the 1040's.

Tommy Gambino cut a check for $12M as restitution as part of his plea in 1992. That was a check and is close to $18 M in todays dollar, inflation adjusted.

Joey Massino forfeited close to $12M, much of it in cash.

I read Carlo's book about Gaspipe, and he was clearly an earner, but I have not seen a figure on any forfeitures.

When Accardo's house got raided, the Feds found a couple hundred thousand in cash, which he eventually got back. Not sure what year that was.

Michael Franzese claims to have been turning in millions a week on the gas tax scam. I cannot recall what his restitution payment was, but I believe it was around $12 - 15M. There is a report somewhere (NJ Crime Commission?) suggesting that Franzese made more money for any crime family since Capone.

The gas tax scam reportedly generated $1B - clearly the most lucrative scam in recent history.

I have heard the windows scam generated anywhere from $150 - $450M total - and that was spread between several families.

The Pizza Connection reportedly moved $1 $2B in heroin, which was divided between Italian families, Canadians (Montreal & Toronto / Hamilton) and I NY, primarily the Bonanno's with some going to the Gambino's.

Interesting that we have little info on guys from the Genovese's, who clearly have some big time earners but keep it low on the radar screen and do not get busted. You know the Chin, Benny Eggs, etc had a warehouse full of cash stacked away in a couple of places.

yeah...another reason why me (and im sure everyone else) is interested in the genovese. Gigante and Mangano lived a few blocks from eachother in the village in very very modest apartments. Frank Condo lived in a Mitchell Lama building on Houston ; for those not in NY Mitchell Lama Housing is income-based housing for the middle class in the city. When you got guys that are in the game strictly for power and respect instead of money - like gigante seemed to have been - you know they're dangerous as f***.

In most recent times I'd guess Basciano was the biggest earner. I also read somewhere that the notorious "3 capos" from the Bonnanos were huge earners...especially Trinchera , not much is known about him

I do not know much about Vinny Gorgeous - what was the source of his $?

if im not mistaken, drugs. He was involved in a heroin ring trial in the 90s that was supposed to have made a HUGE chunk. then you gotta presume he plows some of that money into a loansharking book and the rest is history. He's realtively young but seems to have been around for a long time - thers a picture of him at some Bonanno wedding back in the day with some other Members when he was like 20-something years old

Basciano was big into both drugs (heroin, marijuana) and gambling (sports betting, video poker machines). Also had interests in some legitimate businesses.

Anthony casso was making alot even before he was underboss he ran a huge drug trafficking operation

Anyone ever read Sam and Chuck Giancana's stupid book?

In it they claim--through Sam's monologues, remembered verbatim--that the Outfit was responsible for everything from the assassination of JFK to Vietnam (yes--Vietnam was an Outfit scam) to I forget what else.

It was totally idiotic.

But if you believed it, he would be the greatest earner of all time. As well as the greatest of everything else of all time.

I read it. Other than the stories about personal family brutalities which I tended to believe only b/c stuff like that tends to stay with folks, it needed to be taken with a huge rock of salt, as you say. To believe everything in that book one would have to believe that Giancana had a compulsive need to confess to his relatives every evil thing he ever did.

i read it and also had the same thoughts of that. i think if anyone was responsible for jfk was carlos marcello boss of new oreleans. of course this once again is just theory. i do believe that sam ginacanna and trafficante were in the failed attempt on fidel castro's life. i think there has been enough proof for that. as for the vietnam thing.....i highly doubt it.

thats the only reason casso came to the position that he was in, because of his great earning ability s. i guess you have to give the devil his due because he was a fierce earner. just wasn't the most rational fella.

Guys I totally agree with you! And also unbelievably that there is enough evidence that the CIA really did approach Giancana to help kill Castro!

The CIA went to extraordinary lengths to try to whack Castro.
They had a bomb placed under a podium he was due to give a speech at but it failed.
There was a plan to send him a box of cigars that would explode once lit.
They even sent him a wet suit (he liked scuba diving apparently) that was laced with deadly bacteria - he was smart enough to throw it away first though.

"I don't know a thing about John S------'s past.If he is a Colombo he could be the first billionaire.

Gennaro "Jerry" Anguilo was a hell of an earner, he ran a hell of a bookmaking and loansharking business which is what got him the money to kick up to Patriarca which in turn elevated him to defacto underboss

He's a made member of the Colombo family. Definitely a multimillionaire.

What about Salvatore LoCascio? Didn't he make the Gambino's over 400 million from the scams he had in the 90's?

James "Jimmy Brown" Failla, he is considered one of the greatest earners in the history of the mafia. Roy Demeo was another big earner who seemed to have his hands in everything, one of the main reasons he was "made" was because of his earning ability, otherwise he was considered a nut and loose cannon. William "Wild Bill" Cutolo was another huge earner for the Colombo's. I knew Daniel Marino was an important player, but didn't know he was such a huge earner, anyone know what his rackets are?

Mike Franzese was probably the biggest earner the last 50 years with his gas racket. obviously demeo was a big earner. also castellano was a huge earner with his meat industry

what is the role of organized crime in car dealerships these days?

anyone know?

I ask this question? because I had a problem with a dealership that makes me feel as if I am dealing with the mob.

The Locascio crew ran two scams, one involving charging the credit cards of people who thought they were taking free "tours" of adult sites on the internet, and another that over billed people who had called various 900 numbers. The two scams together supposedly brought in upwards of $750 million.

Back in the day Danny Marino oversaw the Gambino family's interest in the trade show industry. Last year people connected to him (I don't know if they were in his crew specifically) were busted for a several crimes ranging from extortion of construction companies and kickbacks in the food distribution business to running a prostitution ring and drug trafficking.

There are mob members who have financial interests in auto dealerships. For example, Colombo soldier John S------- owns a string of dealerships. Another is Outfit boss John DiFronzo, who also has interests in a couple dealerships in Chicago. And the mob, at least in New York, is still involved in the stolen auto racket.

One of the 3 murdered Bonnano Capo's (either Phil Lucky or Big Trin I think) had made a packet off a trucking business

I am sure there are others, but the below people we know were bigger earners than 80 percent of LCN:

Made guys include:
Tommy Gambino: Garmet Industry
Michael Franzese: Gas Scam (said to have made LCN over a billion
Anthony Casso: Everything you can think of
Anthony "Big Tony" Peraino: Financed the Porno "deep Throat" among many other things
Vinny Ocean: Was said to have been the most lucrative earner of his time that no one knew about. He kept millions stashed in his back yard
Al Capone: If you translate moneys worth into todays value he would be the biggest earner in LCN history
Sammy Gravano: I dont think many people ever realized how much this guy earned because he kicked up HUGE percentages to Gotti. He literally kicked up 50 percent of his earnings. Capeci once said that if no other member of the Gambinos gave Gotti a dime he could have lived off Gravano two life times over.
Vinvent Dinapoli: Was on Forbes Magazines "top 10 richest USA Mobsters) Can anyone find that list? I have tried and cannot
Eddie Lino: Most active gambino capo on the streets, big time earner even while associate, then soldier and carried it through to capo. One of the few capos who loved to get his hands dirty.
Gerrard Pappa: was a big earner, read that a few times, not sure what he dabbled in.
Carmine Lombardozi: Gambino Capo



Non Made guys (associates):
Frank rosenthal
Joe "the German" Watts
Burt Kaplan
James "jimmy the Gent" Burke
Meyer Lanski


I am sure there are many more, these come to mind.

FYI- Anyone in the Bonnano Family other than Big Joey should not be mentioned and even him you cant consider a "huge earner" as most of his time was spent either as a boss or top tier level. The earners are the soldiers, associates and some capos. Bosses should never be mentioned, they nod their head and snap their fingers and get kick ups, they dont earn. They were left out of the joint ventures forever with the comission. You can only make so much money off street rackets. Unions, Construction, Concrete, legit businesses is where the money was at.

Myth: The huge drug traffickers in LCN made great money no doubt, it was usually either to short lived or kept from the bosses for it to be what you would call a "massive earning racket". The Bonnanos as we all know relied on this for years while cut out of the comission joint ventures. Still GREAT money but if you look, most drug traffickers considered "big earners" had other things besides the drugs, Like Demao's car theft ring.

Burton Kaplan was a huge earner. He ran a huge marijuana ring, was one of the first people to start importing clothes from China, he made a ton selling fake Peruvian passports to people in Hong Kong before China took it back from the British, he was involved in security fraud, and was considered the best guy in NYC to get rid of swag. He also bought a lot of real estate out West with rich Chinese businessmen. He also always tried to owe Casso atleast a million so Casso wouldn't want to kill him, though Casso eventually put a hit out on him because he thought Kaplan was the one who got him caught when he was on the run.

Gerrard Pappa: was a big earner, read that a few times, not sure what he dabbled in

He was part of the windows racket wasnt he?
Think he also shook down some bars/clubs.
Not to mention his killing skills - no doubt he got paid a buck or two for murder.

Anyone know who was the largest earner in the Philly Mob? Im sure they had some good earners with AC being so close and all. Some others that were not mentioned:

Anthony "Nino" Gaggi (Big Pauls most trusted Capo)
Robert "DB" Dibernardo (construction tycoon)
Matthew Madonna (herion, gambling,construction and prostitution, also had a very large earning alliance with the Bloods street gang)
Matty "The Horse" Ianello (Vice Operations, Night Clubs and Restaurants)
Stevie "Wonder Boy" Crea: (Construction, said to have made the overall construction labor costs go up overall 5 percent in NY and had over 40 million a year in construction contracts)
Tino "T" or "the Greek" Fiumara: Controlled every major NJ racket in the 80's and 90's and was labeled a "powerhouse earner"

Of course Crea. Does anyone have any idea how much he's worth? That man is a wonder.

i started this thread and im still wondering.. My fav mob? Who was philly's guy? Im looking for more recent guy in like the Merlino and Ligambi era..

I have a better question. Which wiseguy was the absolute worst earner?

Lefty Ruggiero?

Lefty Ruggiero comes to mind....according to Pistone he was always broke and owed a fortune in gambling debts

Lefty was reckless and careless with the way he spent his money but that doesnt mean he was a bad earner.

Jerry Anguilo from boston was a huge earner. He was sending $50k a month to Patriarca Sr. from his gambling operations and that was during the 1950's. Thats prob equal to a half a millon in todays times

Greg del palma in his later years was a bad earner

i was thinkin this too as i scrolled down from the question of who was the worst earner i discovered that you beat me to mr de palma

even though not a made man tommy desimmone was probablly a poor earner. always seemed to mess things up let his temper get in the way of everything you could set his blood thistiness to the sun coming up and paul vario even got rid of him at a time when paulie needed earners around......i'll bet paulie would have never got rid of him like that if tommy coulda thrown a huge envelope up

You are correct. Paul Vario would have never given up Tommy if he was an earner. The Gambinos actually wanted Jimmy burke and Desimone but Vario wouldnt give up Burke because he earned so much so he gave the Gambinos Tommy for revenge on Billy Batts. In fact, it was said that Burke was the mastermind behind Billy Bats murder because he wanted to take over his loan shark book and even though he was the mastermind Vario wouldnt give him up because his earning capability.

Believe it or not, John Gotti was a pretty piss poor earner while an associate and soldier.

very true also another degenrate gambler. rumors around the ravenite was that gotti couldn't win a bet if he was betting on the color of his underwear.

i have also heard that bats had a garmet factory that made fat women's moo moo's that burke wanted to take over. burke was a true psycho

How about the made guy, there was an article about him back in early 2000s. He didnt even have money to buy a shoe. Was it a lie? cant remember his name.

Shoeless Joe Jacksonetti.

I'm no fan of John Gotti, but he did utter one of the greatest lines in history. It occurred when JG was alone in his club and got the results of his baseball games. He lost every one of 'em..and then he goes "GOD IS A MOTHERFUCKING FAG". Fuck Shakespeare.

I guess we all have our own opinions, but that right there is wrong, you can try to spin it anyway you want and its still wrong. "Fuck Shakespeare" Funny-I wont even repeat the other one though.

1. Michael Franzese - Anywhere from 200-900 Million in Gas Tax money stolen. Where the money went after that. Who knows. His former partner in Witness Protection claims to "only" have given Franzese 50 Million.

2. Peraino Family - Muscled out their third partner in producing Deep Throat. The movie has grossed over 600 Million.

3. Sam Giancana - In 1950s money, he made 150 Million.

4. Pizza Connection - 1 Billion. Divided up between Bonnanos, Italy and Canadien/French organized crime groups.

google states that behind pablo esobar and carlos ledher (aka diego delgado from the movie blow) that fat tony salerno and meyer lanksy were the richest gangsters. any thoughts

Jvaley,

You have to go back to the 1970s with the Philly Mob for guys who made alot of money.

Bruno was the boss for 20 years. The scarfo mob made very little money. In fact when Leonetti went away, he had to go into Scarfo house and take 800k into hiding.
Merlino was the street boss and before he went away was trying to find hot rolexs to sell according to Ron Previte. And sold membership into the philly mob for 50k.

According to Lanskys grandson, when he died he had very few assets. He lost millions when Casto took over cuba.

Outside of Capone, Franzese and Luciano, the columbians in Medellin in the 1980s, made more money then any of the italian mafia members ever made.

Check out the documentary Cocaine Cowboys on Netflix online. Ledhar would have been a capo in the Cartel. The Ochouas (spelling?) made a billion dollars.

I recently caught parts of Cocaine Cowboys, one of the big drug smugglers interviewed said the Ochoa brothers were the real power behind the Medellin Cartel, and not Pablo Escobar. I think some of the Ochoa brothers are alive and well, after only doing a few years in Colombian prisons. The money some of the smugglers were making was beyond belief. The movie "Blow" starring Johnny Depp is about George Jung, he was a major smuggler for the Medillin during the 70's.

Indeed, Depalma was so hard up for cash he allowed himself to be duped by that fat slob of an FBI agent Jack Garcia. I don't know how Garcia was able to pass himself off as a guy of Italian ancestry originally from Cuba. His infiltration of Depalma read like a low budget C grade mafia movie. Greg Depalma's stupidity did some serious damage to the Gambino's, Garcia's work took down many of their top guys including acting boss at the time Arnold Squitieri.

Spin it any way I want? I can only spin it one way. That's what's beautiful about this statement. It's clear, it's to the point and it's passionate! Sort of like "To be or not to be...". Only that one lacked fire and class.

Gotti was a piss poor earner, I believe his wife was always getting on him about being broke when he was a soldier and capo. His brother Gene seemed to be the only real earner in the family.

Gotti gambled all his crews earnings away. Angelo and Gene always complained about it. If it wasn't for Dellacroce Gotti would have never gotten his button.

Gott's gambling led to a hilarious phone call between Angelo and Gene that was intercepted....



Angelo: You gotta do yourself a favor and everybody else a favor too. We gotta see how we're gonna close this fucking joint in New York.

Gene: Yeah, what happened now?

Angelo: That fucking hard-on, you know that hard-on, the guy your mother shit out.

Gene: Go ahead.

Angelo: He lost thirty dollars last night. We were on top sixty balloons! I left there one-thirty and we're on top sixty balloons! We didn't need him in the fucking game!

Gene: I'm by the club now.

Angelo: We were on top sixty balloons - what, is he kidding somebody or what, this guy? Who the fuck needed him there? So what is he looking to do now? Just take advantage of people or what? Let's see how we gotta do it, Genie.

Gene: Oh fuck him. I don't give a fuck. What is he looking to do, this guy? Is he abusing his position or what?

LOL ya I read that somewhere thats hilarious(your mother shit out)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA "THE GUY YOUR MOTHER SHAT OUT"...ANGELO RUGGIERO = SHAKESPEARE

Here's a good article about the divide between earners and "brokesters".

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/nyregi...t=cse&scp=1

You might have to login to view it.

I think the mistake some people make is having a generalized, cookie-cutter image of how much a mob guy makes. It seems to me that the mob basically mirrors society in general. You've got the multimillionaires on one side, the brokesters on the other, and the rest in the middle (the majority) which are basically middle-class.

I am not a Wiseguy so I could be wrong, but this is what it seems to be now days:

The old timers, the Capos basically who are still on the street are wealthy if they did things right. Like Danny Marino investing in land and commercial real-estate.

The younger soldiers are living "score to score" just as normal citizens, tax paying citizens are living "pay check to pay check"

Your normal Mob Rackets still extist today, Loan Sharking, Gambling, Drug Dealing, Prostitution, etc. One of the things I loved about the sopranos was the Hud Scheme, those are the type of "one hit rackets" the Mob is into now days. Make as much as you can on a scam like that and run.

Anyway, point being, The old time Capos who stashed money away are good, the soldiers, most of them anyway are struggling. Why do you think so many soldiers and associates flip now days when facing a small 5-10 year bit? Its not worth it to them anymore, they could make more money being a legit citizen.

In the 70's, 80's and even 90's people did their 5-20 year stint in the Can and they knew they would be taken care of while in the Can and when they got out. Not now

LOL, there has to be loads of great stuff like this on the Ruggiero tapes.

But they weren't always taken care of when they got out, JV. That's one of the things that leads to resentments and the eventual flipping of some of these guys.

A lot of these guys are disillusioned thinking that their wives and kids are going to be provided for while they're away. That's a myth. Look at Karen Hill having to go on welfare, or go back and read "Donnie Brasco," and you'll see how angry Sonny Black was at his family being shunned by everyone but Lefty when he was away.

And those are just a couple of high-profile public examples. I've seen what often happens to their families when they go away. It's not pretty.

That's really interesting PB. I've heard/read that too and now you also confirm it. I know people in that life are not known for benevolent behavior but you would think if nothing else out of pure self-interest that the bosses or captains would try to set up some modest funds for people that got sent away for relatively short periods of time-say less than 10 years. That would reduce resentments and worrying over the financial status of wives/children/relatives.

Great minds, Brother Dee-troit . . .

I agree. One of the reasons that most wiseguys join the mob besides the money/women is because they feel that they will be apart of a brotherhood that goes by and honor code. however when they finally get made most of them see that there really is no honor. When they got to jail their families aren't taken care. Also you can get killed for simple reasons. It's hard to blame the wiseguys that become rats because they figured out that there is no honor in the mob

in alcoholics anonymous they teach that acceptance of being powerless is the key to recovery. they need to make a wise guys anonymous and teach that accepting everything you heard about honor is complete shit because nowadays 9 times outta 10 there is someone waiting there to cut your throat and send you up the river. sometimes if there not even in trouble as my least favorite rat of all time Kenji Gallo demonstrates everyday. i think he became a rat just because he figured he could be on more tv shows and have a more successful blog!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc2nzn66MIY&playnext=1&list=PL039C886DE4743888

imo this is gotti at his greatest shakesperian level....telling victoria to cut a little boy's tounge out and telling her to ask the boys mutha do u not wanna wake up no more to see your son? is this what you desire?

Kenji, the name alone just makes me want to vomit. Does he post here? I know he's very active on the internet.

"Do you want my father to know about this. You want him to handle it his way..She would've shitted herself" hahahaha.

he hasn't posted on realdeal-forum for a while
i dont know if he posted here

What are you referring to? Kenji Gallo? Or an acutal user on here? If Kenji Gallo does he actually look at these sites?

he's referring to kenji gallo. the most internet friendly snitch there ever has been. runs his own blog and spends most of his days calling teddy persico a pussy

Kenji Gallo used to post on this site?

You cant really blame the Persicos for being fooled by Kenny Gallo. Think about it. A half japaenese/half italian former drug smuggler who did car bombings and pimping being an informant? Makes you realize how crooked the feds are.

The last half of his book is one of the best books written on the modern mob.

What's the name of his book italian? I am lookimg for a good book on the modern mob

oh yes he played his part very well. im the first to give him credit about that. i just hate how he goes on the internet and posts the dumbest shit and defends what he did by being a snitch when he was not in a legal trouble. i just dont understand or like the man.

Is there any truth to the story that Roy Demao would give gold coin's to Jerry Seinfeld for Halloween. I think they were neighbors. Roy wasn't antisemitic his best earner was Chris Rosenberg, best known for dismembering bodies in his underwear because he liked to keep his cloth's clean.

I see you have read Murder Machine as well.

I still don't know why Jerry talks so fondly about the massapequa diner. I just can't stop thinking of Roy Demano putting a guy's head in a compresser at the meat processing plant.

never heard of demeo and seinfeld....

Can you imagine Jerry Seinfeld and Roy DeMeo having dinner together.

Jerry: So neighbor, what was up with that foul smell I sensed the other day when I walked by your car?
Roy: Oh, yeah, I hit a deer. It was in the trunk for a few days.
Jerry: Geez. Bet that was messy.
Roy: No, no, there wasn't any blood in it. You see, I stabbed it first, like a couple of hundred times, removed the clothes and hung it above the tub, like upside down. Completely fucking drained it of any blood. Marvelous method.
Jerry: Clothes? What do you mean, removed the clothes? It's a deer.
Roy: Did I say clothes?. I mean, yeah I removed the skin. This is some good Scotch, Jerry. My wife and I thank you very much.

Can you imagine Jerry Seinfeld and Roy DeMeo Now

Jerry: So Roy,another one of my exotic automobile's was stolen, did you see anything?
Roy: No Jerry, do you have insurance?
Jerry:Yes but these cars are highly collectible,difficult to-replace.
Roy: Jerry you don't want any union problems at your fathers sign shop...Right?

Albert DeMeo did say in his book that one Christmas his Mother and elder sister hung candy canes all over the outside of their house for the neighbourhood kids.
As it turns out somebody came along at night and stole them all.

That thief had no idea who he was robbing off did he (good job for him he never got found out!)?
LMAO

By all accounts, DeMeo was the perfect neighbour - barbacue's and street parties for his neighbourhood etc.

ANTHONY SALERNO AND JERRY CATENA MADE THE MOST MONEY.

Jerry catena

I believe it was Chris Rosenbeg who stuck Katz's head in the box compactor. Revenge for Katz shooting Rosenberg in the face and disfiguring him.

Wasn't frankie decicco a good earner?both with the unions and i tead somewhere that he was a big loanshark

Salerno ran the biggest lottery in the city, but CATENA had more money than god. NOT EVEN CLOSE, CATENA