Son of N.Y. Mob Figure Indicted on L.A. Charges

A Los Angeles attorney, who is the son of a high-level member of New York’s Gambino organized crime family, has been indicted on extortion and forgery charges by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury, prosecutors said Thursday.

John Scotto, 28, is accused of trying to extort $50,000 from two Hollywood nightclub owners and $126,000 from two other victims.

Scotto is the son of Anthony Scotto, a “semi-retired” captain in the Gambino family, the district attorney’s office said. Anthony Scotto came to power on the Brooklyn waterfront through his marriage to the daughter of underworld figure Anthony (Tough Tony) Anastasia, prosecutors said.

The younger Scotto, a Malibu resident, surrendered to officers of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Organized Crime Division and remains in County Jail in lieu of bail.

The $150,000 bail was posted but not accepted pending a hearing next week to determine if the money was obtained illegally. If illegally obtained, the money cannot be used to free Scotto from custody.

The indictment was handed down Monday but remained sealed until Scotto surrendered Thursday. He is charged with two counts of extortion and one count of attempted extortion and with the forgery of two checks.

Also named in the indictment were New Yorkers Natale Cardino, 25, and Leonard Passafaro, 31, who also has a close relative associated with the Gambino crime family.

Passafaro was arrested in New York, and Cardino in Cancun, Mexico. They are charged with two counts each of extortion and attempted extortion. Both will be returned to Los Angeles next week for arraignment.

Attorneys for the three could not be reached for comment.

Scotto was alleged to be the mastermind of a 1988 operation in which the other two suspects allegedly used “strong-arm” tactics to extort $50,000 from two Hollywood businessmen who were refurbishing a nightclub, Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner said.

Two years earlier, the businessmen had obtained funding from a limited partnership of two dozen New York investors. The investors had not been repaid and through attorney Scotto had filed a civil action against the two nightclub owners. However, authorities said, there is no indication that the New York partners were involved in the alleged extortion.

In September, 1988, Passafaro and Cardino allegedly threatened to throw the Hollywood businessmen out of windows and harm their families if they did not write two checks totaling $50,000. They paid the money, which prosecutors say ended up in a bank account held by Scotto.

“This is the importing of New York mob-style extortion into Los Angeles and we don’t condone it. We are stepping on the spark before it becomes a fire,” Reiner told a press conference.

However, he said that law officers had not determined whether the Gambino family was directly involved in the cases or whether Scotto was “free-lancing.”

The district attorney added that there was evidence that the Gambino family has been buying into local businesses for several years.

“It’s a steady occurrence,” Reiner said. “California is open territory. No single mob family is in control.”

Members of the Police Department’s Organized Crime Division served search warrants on Scotto’s home and law office and found telephone records that led to two other alleged extortion victims: a Los Angeles attorney and a San Fernando Valley businessman.

Prosecutors and police declined to name any of the alleged victims, all of whom testified before the grand jury and who are expected to testify at trial.

In fall of 1988, Passafaro and Cardino, using the names Sonny Gold and John Marino, showed up at a local attorney’s office and said Scotto was taking over one of his federal cases involving two brothers, prosecutors allege.

The two men said that the brothers wanted back $35,000 in legal fees that they had paid the lawyer, according to prosecutors. After allegedly being threatened, the attorney gave them checks totaling $26,000 made out to the brothers.

Authorities allege that Scotto forged the endorsements and that the money ended up in his bank account. Scotto was charged with forgery as a result.