JPMadoff: The Unholy Alliance between America’s Biggest Bank and America’s Biggest Crook
Chapter 4
The Differences Between the Gambino Crime Family and JPMorgan Chase
The Gambino crime family was one of the Five Mafia Families that dominated
organized crime activities in the United States. It derives its name from Carlo Gambino,
who succeeded to the position of boss in 1957, the fatal day Albert Anastasia had the
haircut of his life, in a barber chair at the Park-Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. It is
believed that Carlo Gambino played a hand in the haircut episode which led to his
takeover of the family business.
The family’s history demonstrates the importance of having loyal underlings.
The family fortunes grew through 1976, when Gambino appointed his brother-in-law,
Paul Castellano, as boss. Castellano infuriated upstart capo John Gotti, who
orchestrated Castellano's murder in 1985. But Gotti’s tenure was short-lived. His
downfall came in 1992, when his underboss, Sammy Gravano, decided to cooperate with
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the FBI. Gravano's cooperation brought down Gotti, along with most of the top
members of the Gambino family.1
The Gambino crime family's operations extended from New York and the eastern
seaboard to California and to Cuba and Sicily. Gambino partnered with Meyer Lansky
to control gambling interests in Cuba. The Gambino family provided a full-range of
activities including labor and construction racketeering, gambling, loan-sharking,
extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution, murder for hire, solid and
toxic waste dumping violations, construction, building and cement violations, fraud and
wire fraud, hijacking, pier thefts and fencing.2 And Gambino’s bank? Chase Manhattan
Bank, of course.3 But that doesn’t mean he was above planning a robbery of a Chase
Manhattan Bank armored truck.4
JPMorgan Chase is one of the five major financial institutions in the United
States. It has offices all over the world, employs 245,000 people,5 has assets of $2.5
trillion6, and has an overwhelming market share. JPMorgan Chase does business with
50% of American households, 80% of Fortune 500 companies, and 60% of the world’s
largest pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and central banks.7
1 Five Families of New York City, Gambino, http://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/p/gambino-crime- family.html 2 Wikipedia, Gambino Crime Family, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambino_crime_family; Five Families of New York City, Gambino, http://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/p/gambino-crime-family.html 3 Legendary Auctions, Carlo Gambino and Joseph Bonanno Signed Checks Collection, http://www.legendaryauctions.com/lot-69525.aspx 4 Spokesman-Review, Mafia Lord Seized in Plot, (Mar. 24, 1970), available at http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19700324&id=20VWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=a- sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7320,2690877 5 Macroaxis, JPMorgan Number of Employees, http://www.macroaxis.com/invest/ratio/JPM--Number- of-Employees 6 Wikipedia, JPMorgan Chase, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPMorgan_Chase 7 JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2013 Annual Report at 10, http://read.uberflip.com/i/292944; available at http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ONE/3371241636x0x742266/2bd13119-52d2-4d78-9d85- a433141c21ae/01-2013AR_FULL_09.pdf
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Share of U.S. Share of Fortune 500 Share of World’s largest Households banking Companies doing Pensions, Sovereign with JPMorgan Chase Business with Wealth Funds, Central JPMorgan Chase Banks doing business with JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase finances individuals, businesses, and governments