FBI agents fanned out across New Jersey yesterday in two high-profile organized crime cases, one linked to a sweeping racketeering indictment and the other to a financial investigation in which the son of jailed mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo appears to be a prime target.

FBI agents seized records and documents from the Atlantic County home of Nicodemo S. Scarfo, 42, son of the notorious former Philadelphia/South Jersey mob kingpin.

After serving search warrants, agents also took records from several other locations, including the home of Scarfo's ex-wife and from his lawyer's office in Cherry Hill.

A copy of one search warrant obtained by The Inquirer described the operation as part of an investigation into mail fraud, bank fraud, interstate transport of stolen property, extortion, wire fraud, conspiracy, and money-laundering.

Sources familiar with the probe said federal authorities were focusing on more than a dozen companies that have interwoven connections. It was unclear what role the younger Scarfo played in those companies.

There have been no arrests in the investigation.

In a second and apparently unrelated development, several Scarfo associates were charged in a gambling, extortion and racketeering indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Newark.

In all, 23 reputed mob members and associates linked to the Gambino and Lucchese crime families were charged in the case, including Andrew "Andy Knapik" Merola and Martin Taccetta.

Merola, 41, was described by the FBI as a high-ranking member of the New Jersey branch of the Gambino organization. Taccetta, 56, is a longtime leader of the Lucchese family in New Jersey.

Scarfo, who authorities say was formally initiated into the Lucchese crime family, was once linked to a bookmaking and loansharking operation with Merola.

FBI Agent Weysan Dun, who heads the bureau's Newark office, said yesterday's indictments and arrests were part of a decades-long attack on the mob in New Jersey.

"Cosa Nostra, which translates as 'this thing of ours,' is steadily becoming 'this thing of the FBI's,' " Dun said in announcing the arrests.

Scarfo, through an attorney, declined to comment about the raid on his home in Egg Harbor Township. His ex-wife, Michele, whose home in the same community was also the subject of a search, also declined to comment.

"Neither one of them wants to say anything," said James Leonard, Michele Scarfo's lawyer.
Leonard said he believed his client was not the target of an investigation. He said FBI agents arrived at her home on Sun Valley Court about 9 a.m. and spent two or three hours taking out documents.

"She was shaken up," Leonard said.

The couple divorced several months ago. They have a school-age daughter.

Nicodemo Scarfo has since remarried and has an infant son also named Nicodemo.

Scarfo's longtime lawyer, Donald Manno, was among others the FBI served with search warrants. Agents spent several hours taking documents from his Cherry Hill office.

Manno confirmed that search warrants had been served but he declined to comment further.

"At this point there's nothing I can say," he said.

Among the companies cited in the search warrant were a Texas firm, FirstPlus Financial, and several of its subsidiaries, including FirstPlus Development, at 1231 Bainbridge St. in Philadelphia.

Calls to both companies were not returned yesterday.

It could not be determined whether search warrants had been served at the company offices. Two sources familiar with the investigation said the case had links to Texas and Florida and included companies involved in finance, construction, development, used-car sales, and charter-boat operations.

On its Web page, FirstPlus Financial, based in Irving, describes itself as a company that "provides a wide range of financial services as well as facilities development, restoration and management services to both consumer and commercial marketplaces."

FirstPlus Development touts itself as a company involved in general contracting, construction management, and project design and building.

The search warrants served yesterday sought all documents and materials issued from Aug. 1, 2006, to the present involving 43 individuals and companies.

Three principals of FirstPlus or its subsidiaries were among those on the list. Nicodemo Scarfo and his jailed father were also listed, along with mob associate Daniel Daidone, a former South Jersey bartenders union official jailed in a Camden City political corruption case several years ago.
Also listed was Salvatore Pelullo, believed to be the brother of two Philadelphia-area businessmen the FBI identified as longtime mob associates.

The younger Scarfo recently moved to Atlantic County after serving a 33-month federal prison sentence for a gambling conviction. He also has a conviction for conspiracy, loansharking and racketeering.

He was identified, but not charged, in a New Jersey State Police investigation last year as a former ranking member of the Lucchese organization. The investigation indicated that Scarfo had been demoted from the rank of capo to soldier in the crime family during an internal reorganization.

"Little Nicky" Scarfo, 79, is serving a 55-year sentence for racketeering and murder. His control of the local crime family ended in the late 1980s when he was jailed and when his son was ambushed in a South Philadelphia restaurant.

The younger Scarfo survived that assassination attempt.

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