Colombo Family Members And Associates Indicted On Federal Racketeering Charges

New York State Attorney General Spitzer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, David N. Kelley, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Pasquale D'amuro, Rockland County District Attorney Steven Bongiorno, Superintendent of the New York State Police, Wayne Barrtett and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation, Rose Gill Hearn, announced two indictments in Manhattan Federal Court charging 31 alleged members and associates of the Colombo Organized Crime Family with racketeering, extortion, mail fraud, commercial bribery, money laundering, and the operation of illegal gambling businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area.

The two federal Indictments are the result of coordinated investigations over the past four years by state, federal, and local authorities, including the New York State Organized Crime Task Force of the Attorney General's Office, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York State Police, and the New York City Department of Investigation.

Among the defendants are Anthony Colombo and Christopher Colombo, the first and fourth sons, respectively, of Joseph Colombo, Sr., from whom the Colombo Crime Family took its name.

The Colombo brothers and the co-defendants are charged with engaging in schemes to extort legitimate construction companies and then using their control of those companies to defraud DoubleClick, Inc., a publicly-traded Internet advertising company, out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The defendants allegedly defrauded DoubleClick by paying kickbacks of at least $90,000 and other favors to a former DoubleClick employee who approved the systematic overbilling of his employer. A separate Indictment, arising out of the same investigation, charges Patrick Maguire and others with money laundering, loansharking, and the operation of an illegal bookmaking business.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Preet Bharara, Benjamin Lawsky, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Meryl Lutsky, an Assistant Deputy Attorney General with the New York State Organized Crime Task Force.

The charges contained in these Indictments are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.