Westchester resident and alleged captain of Gambino crime family arrested

Christopher J. Eberhart | Rockland/Westchester Journal News

Twelve members of La Cosa Nostra — including a captain of the Gambino crime family who's a Westchester resident — are accused of using years of bribery, fraud and extortion schemes to infiltrate the construction industry and earn millions of dollars.

They operated in eastern New York City, and charges relate to criminal activities dating back to February 2013. Eleven of the 12 were arrested and arraigned in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday. One of the 12 is still at large.

The alleged captain, Andrew Campos, a 50-year-old Scarsdale resident, was one of seven defendants from Westchester County.

The full list of defendants includes:

Campos, 50, Scarsdale

Renato "Ronny" Barca Jr., 32, Bronx

George Campos, 72, Peekskill

James Ciaccia, 51, Bronx

Benito "Benny" DiZenzo, 53, New Rochelle

Vincent Fiore, 57, Briarcliff

Mark "Chippy" Kocaj, 49, Tuckahoe

Richard Martino, 60, Rye

John "John Si" "Smiley" Simonlacaj, 50, Scarsdale

Frank "Bones" Tarul, 45, Bronx

Micheal "Perksins" Tarul, 43, Bronx

Adrial "Adriel Lopez" "Andrew Lopeck" Lopez, 56, Bronx

Wire fraud bribery schemes

Campos, Fiore, Kocaj and DiZenzo paid several companies and real estate developers in bribes and kickbacks through their carpentry company called CWC Contracting Corp. (CWC) to secure contracts, according to court documents.

Between June 2018 and June 2019, CWC paid "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to multiple employees of an unnamed real estate development company, including Simonlacaj, who was the managing director of development, according to court documents.

Obstruction of Justice

After Andrew Campos and Martino were released from federal prison following a 2005 fraud conviction, Martino and Tarul moved quickly to hide Martino's "substantial" wealth, accoridng to court documents.

They falsely reported that Martino had limited assets and worked for Tarul's flooring company, meanwhile Martino was operating multiple companies and bringing in "millions of dollars," which federal prosecutors caught in court-authorized wiretaps, according to court documents.

Loansharking and extortion

Andrew Campos and Fiore used force and violence to collect at least $100,000 from one victim, prosecutors said.

In a lawfully wiretapped phone conversation on March 13, 2019, Fiore warned the victim, “When you get punched in the face and your teeth get knocked out . . . you’re not going to laugh no more, okay? . . . At the end of the day, when you’re upside down [i.e., unable to make certain payments], you deal with him,” referring to Campos, court documents show.

They also had enforcers, namely Kocaj and Lopez, a former professional boxer, prosecutors said.

Wiretaps recorded Kocaj bragging about his ability to collect money through violence, including $30,000 from one victim, court documents show. When Kocaj was arrested in his home Thursday morning, law enforcement officers seized $25,000 in cash, brass knuckles and several large knives, prosecutors said.

Retaliation Against Grand Jury Witness

Andrew Campos also went after people who he believed testified against him, including firing a CWC worker, prosecutors said.

During a recorded conversation on Nov. 22, Fiore could be heard directing the CWC worker to be fired as “a personal favor to Andrew,” because the worker “could’ve pled the Fifth,” court documents show.

Additional charged schemes

The list of schemes in the two unsealed indictments and criminal complain also include money laundering by cashing checks made out to others for work supposedly performed in connection with CWC construction projects, acquiring completed OSHA training course cards when the training was never done, paying CWC employees millions in cash without the required payroll tax withholdings, overbilling CWC cllients and tax evasion.

Twitter: @ChrisEberhart2