Edward Garafola

Brooklyn, N.Y. Contractor Sentenced for Role in Building Cost Overrun Scheme

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 18:52

The massive scandal surrounding the renovation of New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) headquarters in Lower Manhattan continues to reverberate. The latest casualty in this union-connected ghost-worker and money-laundering scam is Constantine Vafias, 70, a Brooklyn-based construction contractor. On April 7, Vafias was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to three years probation and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution and $100,000 in forfeiture. Those sums, substantial as they are, represent only a fraction of the total funds siphoned off into the pockets of the lead contractor, two major local unions, various shell companies and the Gambino crime family.

Gambino Crime Soldier Gets 30 Years for Murder of Cousin

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 02/11/2008 - 01:00

Edward “Cousin Eddie” Garafola had been a made man in New York’s Gambino crime family for 30 years or more.  And that may be how long he’ll wind up behind bars – assuming he makes it that far.  On September 5, 2007, Garafola, now 69, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 30 years in prison for taking part in separate plots to kill a cousin and a brother-in-law.  The former plot was successful; the latter was not.  Garafola pleaded guilty in October 2004 to luring a cousin, Edward “Eddie the Chink” Garofalo (note: the last names are spelled differently), to his death at the hands of two hit men back in 1990.  Additionally, Garafola had participated in the planning of a hit, never carried out, on former Gambino underboss Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano nearly a decade later.  Garafola, moreover, was deeply involved in union corruption.

Gambino Mobster Sentenced in NYC Construction Scam

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 09/26/2005 - 00:00

The New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) back in the late 90s thought it was getting a steal of a deal on the construction of its new headquarters at 2 Broadway in Lower Manhattan.  And in an unintended way, it was.  An unholy alliance between a major developer, the Gambino crime family, a host of contractors, and at least three unions led to thefts in excess of $10 million, and contributed toward a total project cost overrun of more than $300 million.  A 43-count federal indictment unveiled last September alleged that Gambino influence led to fraud, extortion and kickbacks in at least 10 separate contracts.   This August 2 one of the syndicate’s key players, Mario Garafola, learned he would have to do some prison time.  But his wrongdoing has to be seen in the context of a far broader conspiracy uncovered by the FBI and the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).

Gambino Soldier, Union Bus. Agent Indicted for Multi-Million$ Fraud in NYC

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 09/27/2004 - 00:00

Officials with the U.S. Attorney for Eastern N.Y., the FBI and U.S. Dept. of Labor announced on Sept. 15 a 43-count indictment involving the Metropolitan Transport Authority's new headquarters at 2 Broadway in Manhattan.  The defendants include Edward Garafola, a soldier in the Gambino organized crime family, and Junior Campbell, a business agent with Local 79 of the Laborers' Intl.

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