By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
The government sees it as an act of chutzpah.
Mob expert Jerry Capeci of Gang Land News reports that Reynold (Ren) Maragni, a Colombo capo, who was cooperating with the feds, “poked his finger” in the eyes of the feds by filing papers demanding the federal government in Brooklyn return $48,500 in loanshark payments he accepted in 2011 while working undercover for them.
Capeci reports that Maragni returned the dough to monitoring FBI agents, but could really use the cash now.
Capeci writes:
In court filings, assistant U.S. attorneys Elizabeth Geddes and Allon Lifshitz opposed the mobster’s audacious request. They noted that the money was evidence, that the cash was criminal proceeds that were subject to criminal as well as civil forfeiture statutes, and that Maragni agreed to its forfeiture in a February 9, 2012 “cooperation agreement”
The government also opposed a separate motion by Maragni’s attorney to use some of that money to cover his legal fees. The judge agreed with the feds, but allowed the lawyer to resign from the case, and appointed a new attorney, who won’t have to worry about the gangster stiffing him, too. He will be paid by the government.
Gang Land News is a subscription based website on organized crime.
