Usually it is victims who become trapped in the web of fear. But sometimes the members do also. For years Frank Sindone was the principal loan-shark in the Angelo Bruno Crime Family. Violence or the threat of it, was his most effective tool. He was threatened to pull the eyes out of a man deep in debt, after promising to break his back. As the years piled up, so did the money. And there came a time when Frank Sindone was ready to call it quits, settle down and enjoy his twilight years on the West Coast. But the system from which he prospered, would not let him go. In the end it killed him. "I'll get out of here one day," he told two mob friends during a meeting in April of 1976 at Frank's Cabana Steaks in South Philly. "You watch, i'll get the f..k out. Get a F-ing ranch. I want to get a nice ranch, with some grapes on it, you know. Make a little bit of bit of wine, sell the wine, get a couple of horses and about 40 or 50 acres. Change my name, this way they can't call me no more." But Bruno wouldn't have it. Here is the conversation that the FBI bug between Sindone, Salvatore "Chuck" Merlino, and Lawrence "yogi" Merlino:
SINDONE: I want to go out there, i told him(BRUNO)... He say's "What do you want in Vegas. What do you want in California?" I said, "Ange, you want me to tell you the truth or do you want me to lie to you?" He says, "You know that bothers me. What do you want with that big house of your own?" I said, "I'll try to tell you, maybe you'll understand. I was poor all my F..king life, I didn't have nothing. My mother and father weren't rich, whatever i have i had to steal. My father used to sell fish like a F..king Indian, so now i got money. I'm getting old fast and i'm almost 50 now. I want to enjoy the F..king money!"
SALVATORE MERLINO: What's the good of having it if you can't spend it?
SINDONE: If i don't make no money for the rest of my F..king life I'd never be broke. I can't spend what i've got. So i got a right to enjoy myself. I've lived my F..king life in one lousy place.
LAWRENCE: MERLINO: Sure, you can see the writing on the wall.
SALVATORE: MERLINO Sure. I agree with you.
SINDONE: Sooner or later they are gonna knock my F..king socks off!"
SINDONE:.... Chuck, see, this guy(Bruno) is.....I love this guy! This guy has been good to me! But he's got them Old F..king ways. He isn't getting out of them, you know what i mean? Those guys i don't know, i don't understand them! It's just get the money, get the money! Don't spend it! What good is it. I mean, you know what i mean, that's all he says to me! He's gonna die and he is gonna leave all his money to his ...his kids. And what are the kids gonna do with it? Their gonna play the horses... i told him, Ange, you know the kind of(financial) shape i'm in! i says, "if i couldn't afford it, i wouldn't do it. I'm not a fool!"
Sindone never got permission to leave the Family and start a new life. At one point in the conversation with the Merlino's, he spoke of what he would do if Bruno had ever said,Go Ahead.
"And i would tell him, all the business i got, youse whack it up you know, God Bless You, I hope youse get rich on it." Police found Sindones body behind South Philly Five-and-Dime store at approximately 1:20 a.m. on Oct. 30, 1980. He had been shot three times in the head. His rope bound body was stuffed in two green plastic trash bags. He was wearing a gold watch and there was $500 in cash in his pockets.

People act like this guy was a good man. He was a loanshark who preyed on the poor I find nothing honorable about him.

Prey? He offered monies to those that couldn't get elsewhere. Today if he were trading under a indian reservation he could advertise on tv.

Kind of ironic that he was talking to Chuckie Merlino about leaving the life when just a few years later Chuckie would shoot him in the head, at least according to Phil Leonetti

cool article. so he was a south philly guy. he's hanging with the Merlino brothers in the middle 70tys. so he must have been cool with scarf. my question is if he was really trying to retire back then why after Bruno got whacked he stick around? he may I think been under indictment but just threw reading this convo from 76 he had no aspireration to be boss you have to wonder why he really got whacked crazy phill said he plotted on ange but it don't make sence. he didn't care about money it seems.+ wanted to retire. so he was close snuff to the merlino brothers before they were made guys to tell them how he felt but when the melinos got made they kill him that's treacherous. maybe when the genovese were torturing tony bananas he gave him up.

I always compare the philly mob to the patriarca mob cause they had small areas of people to control. as far as I know no one ever made a move in the elder patriarca who reports said was ruthless and close to Vito genovese not gambino like Bruno was. big Paul must have approved Bruno's murder or knew. slimmy. gambino an Bruno where close big Paul didn't care.

pmac & Sonny :This will not tell what the out come of Frank was but just a little info.
Phil some how is picking and choosing what he tells.He changed things and left things out.
I have been around a long time and some how he always comes out on top.
I don't know if is to make him look better or what.
But what he told here and a few things when they would meet with the N.Y. guys have been twisted.I don't get it cos he is an admitted murderer.
This was done when he would talk about Pepe Leva he gives up people but don't give up who killed him,and he knows.
Now from the get go back then as soon as we got the news we (the guys on the block knew)I can only say that he was a real important rat and the FEDS let him pick and choose how and what he told.
So many more things people don't catch cos unless they were around they would not know,I guess he just comes to the top again.

Nice find Capo...

Very good find. It's ashame he couldn't spend his money the way he wanted.

Supposedly Sindone and Scarfo hated each other. Frank was called "Baracuda" for a reason. He also had a previous drug conviction and Scarfo notoriously hated drugs and drug dealers. Sindone may have wanted out of the life and to enjoy his money, but he was also complicit 3 years later in the plot to kill Bruno. Being Bruno's #1 loan shark with gambling connections throughout Philly and down to Baltimore and being closely aligned with Tony Bananas, Sindone was expecting to become Caponigro's underboss. Obviously, Bananas was whacked and this never came to pass. Before Testa was made boss, I believe Sindone won the internal vote (from the capos/soldiers) to be boss but didn't get it as Phil was made boss by The Commission (think this was mentioned in The Plumber).
It's funny how this all comes full circle...Testa feared Sindone's power and loyalty, so he used Sindone's right-hand man Chickie Ciancaglini to set up Sindone who was killed by Chucky Merlino. Fast forward 13 years, and Stanfa (who like Sindone was in on the plot to kill Bruno) is at war with Chucky's son Joey and Chickie's son Michael...and the beat goes on...

Thanks Guys for the compliments

I think I did read that in tommy dels book about sindone having the backing of the south philly guys to become boss. and test and scarfo must have really rocked him to sleep after tony bananas and the other guys got killed that was like the must treacherous family. this guy telling the merlino who kill him he loves ange. then the guy johnny keys get whacked he was ange cousin I read then scarfo becomes boss and just starts killing guys for petty shit. you wonder if the mob bosses like scarfo and vic amuso stay up at nite in the cell and regret a lot of there decisions as boss especially killing guys, or the rats they brought next to them. yes sep I like how crazy phil leaves out his book how his mean uncle had his mother 2 no show union jobs making bank, and how she got indicted.

The guys that were millionaires under Bruno including the boys up north that were big had to go.
This was all set up by the Chin and his top guys.
The way it looks now with all that have been ratted,is the Chin Bobby Mana and Nicky Scarfo Sr.pulled the hole thing off.

Now it may have not gone down from one meeting but as soon a one piece of the puzzle was gone ,They cleared the board.

The Chin wanted more of north Jersey and A.C.and Philly.
This has been said that he was not a greedy man ,but he had some big big power guys he had to feed.

He seen the writing on the wall,Bruno was losing the family and the Chin pulled the move and with Bobby Manna having Nick and only a couple guys in the Philly family had to go after Bruno.

The hole thing points to one big move,and N.Y. still has all the rackets that was taking back then ,I would think that Nick got some ,or that was the payment for the move....

(I know most think this or something like this)

I've thought this way about it too. Scarfo had an issue with Bruno while they were in prison. Manna and Scarfo get close in prison. He gets out and has problems with bruno over local 54 Gerace vs. Natale.

Maybe, just maybe Scarfo didn't know Bananas was gonna whack out Bruno; maybe he did. Bottom line, he benefitted most from it. I think Testa being boss was a clever diversion. Books say Scarfo turned it down and let Phil have it. Back then, NYC ran philly and Scarfo was the only one left in Phila with NYC connections. Chickie Narducci, Pete Casella, no one else had them.

Nicky : I do think so, cos even when he turned down, it was to let smoke clear,and he was going in the seat either way.
And if he knew nothing " The Chin was playing chess the whole time.
The Chins family was like 4 bosses they needed the rackets.
Don't know if it is the same now, but,talking power" house!
The top 5 maybe could or would or did make good bosses..

Pete Casella most definitely had connections in New York other wise he wouldn't have gotten a pass for whacking Testa

Yea , Sonny what was the captain's name that he was close with ?

I don't know what his name was

Ok , I think he was in jail with the guy .
How ironic cos ,this is how the whole thing started out.
Dam talk about full circle",get locked up make contacts ,learn more about crime ...
That's why it is called "College"

Pete was a big guy here in A.C. before Nicky.
And if you know scarfo if you had more then him or a better gangster rap,well he had a problem with ya.

Casella had all kinda stuff here ,when i was a kid my dad was showing me his house Big 5 story beach house on the beach block, just a few streets in ventnor city.This must of been before Bruno, or just when he was Boss ,I don't know when he became boss.

But anyway he was loaded and he had a real popular club here on the strip(Paciffic ave.) called Bamboo and this is like 1964..1966, around there i think.But he was no joke as my Dad and Pop would talk about him.He was not a ducktown guy ,but they would go to Club Madrid and Marconi with the other old guys..And he was a regular.

Never herd about him again till he was booted out by the Chin,So he was close with the big guys back in the 40,s when this town was full of Big shots.I guess that's why he got the pass..

Yeah he did time with the guy in Atlanta , but that's wasn't his only connection too New York that might have been his connection to the Genovese that saved his life, but before he went to prison he was heavily involved In heroin dealing with guys from NY and Zips

Frank Sindone is the leading loanshark in the Philadelphia area. He is a member of the Bruno crime family and while he makes loans himself, is a principal money supplier to other loansharks. Wiretapped conversations in 1970 indicate that Sindone's largescale loansharking operation was financed and supervised by Philip Charles Testa, the underboss in the Bruno crime family at the time who appears to have become the new boss of the group.
One of the loansharks Sindone supplied with money was Harry D' Ascenzo, who spent five years as a Philadelphia policeman. D'Ascenzo was convicted in 1976 of loansharking and sentenced to three-to-five years in prison and fined $10,000.

Another outlet for Sindone's funds was Alexander Hartzell, a former Philadelphia policeman. Hartzell, whose wrists are so big they do not fit into handcuffs, was convicted of extortion in 1975, sentenced to five years in prison and fined $10,000. Sindone was acquitted in that trial.
Loansharks like Sindone usually charge the ultimate borrower "6-for-5." That is, for every $5 borrowed, $6 must be repaid-or 20 percent more dollars than the loanshark gave out. Loans are usually made for six week periods.

The 20 percent figure, it should be noted, is not a true interest rate because a time period is not mentioned. It only refers to the amount of added dollars the loanshark gets back. The crucial thing in calculating a true interest rate is the amount of time the loan is outstanding.
For example, the typical 6-for-5 loan over a six week period is equivalent of a yearly rate of 284.5 percent. If the loan were for a 10 week period, the actual annual interest rate would be a lower 180 percent.
There are two basic types of loans that loansharks make. In the 6-for-5 variety, for example, principal and interest are repaid regularly. In other cases, interest payments are made regularly and the principal is repaid in a final "balloon" payment. The balloon method results in a lower interest rate-but not that much lower.

Searches of Testa's home in 1970 revealed $19,800 in cash in a bookshelf and $20,000 in cash hidden in a piano in the basement.

Sindone and other loansharks use threats and violence to prod slow payers. An example of the extortionate demands of a loanshark surfaced In wiretaps made by the FBI in 1970 of a telephone call by Sindone to Sidney Benjamin.

Benjamin: "Hello."
Sindone: "Sid?"
Benjamin: "Yeah."
Sindone: "Is this Sid Benjamin?"
Benjamin: "Yeah."
Sindone: "This is Frankie."
Benjamin: "Oh, jeez, I've been trying to get you ... "
Sindone: "Hey look, I'm going to tell you something ... "
Benjamin: "Yeah."
Sindone: "I'll break your fucking back for you, you don't bring me my money back."
Benjamin: "I, I want to come out there with Domenic on Monday night, how about that?"
Sindone: "I don't want no fucking appointments with you. I'll come up to your fucking house."
Benjamin: "Can I come out there with him?"
Sindone: "You better bring me that fucking money here you cocksucker, and stop all that bullshitting. You understand? I ain't going to tell you no more, I'll come up to your fucking house. I'll pull your eyes right out of your head. I had enough of you. You understand?"

Sindone also threatened beating Benjamin and others, with a baseball bat. Benjamin was a principal witness for the federal government at a trial in 1972 that followed from the indictments a year earlier of Sindone, Testa, Alexander Schwartz and Dominic Scalise. In that trial, Schwartz and Scalise were identified as loansharks who were supplied funds by Sindone. It was alleged in testimony that Anthony and John DiSalvo worked as loansharks with Sindone, and Robert LaBrum acted as a loan collector for Anthony DiSalvo. Benjamin declined to testify, citing health reasons. The defendants were acquitted.

Sindone shifted his base of operations in the early 1970s from an empty pool hall, Famiglietta Billiards, 1127 East Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, to a front known as Frank's Cabana Steaks, 10th and Moyamensing Streets, Philadelphia.
Joseph "Chickie" Ciancaglini, who often frequents Frank's Cabana Steaks, acted as an "enforcer" or "muscle" for Sindone when it came to speeding up delinquent payments.
While Sindone is a significant figure in the Bruno crime organization and is heavily involved as well in the Bruno family's gambling business.

pretty cool. this guy was serious. I remember in tommy dels book he said that after Bruno got whacked this guy had the majority votes of the capos to takeover as boss even thou testa was official underboss. killed young 51 and rich. he didn't have any kids but was he related to any other members. seems like there all cousins down there. he was under indictment with harry the hunch and joe chang when he was kill. he would have gone to jail and be alive today. think joe chang got 10yrs in 1983 trial. there was like 10 defendants like 8 got murder.

Heh I've seen those TV commercials and my friends and I just shake our heads and wonder who actually calls them up to borrow money from them, at a majorly increased interest rate that they'll have a difficult time paying off?

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/westernsky-com.html

http://www.bbb.org/blog/2011/08/western-sky-financial-yes-its-expensive/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/e...0fd5_story.html