Former reputed mobster’s bank accounts frozen

STRATFORD — Dozens of bank accounts linked to a former reputed Stratford mobster have been frozen and his lawyer says no one will tell him why.

In court filings, a lawyer representing Gus Curcio Sr. said Curcio and associated entities had dozens of accounts at Citizens Bank and People’s United Bank closed without warning in August and September.

At one time a reputed member of the Genovese crime family, Curcio was convicted of loan sharking and extortion charges in federal court. Since his release from prison, he has started numerous enterprises in the area, including bars and restaurants often registered in the names of associates.

In August, after several of his accounts at Citizens Bank were apparently frozen and their totals zeroed out, Curcio sued the bank seeking an injunction prohibiting it from freezing his accounts.

He was among 47 different plaintiffs in the case, including Keeper’s strip club in Milford, Curcio’s wife and many other companies, among them several bars and restaurants, “management businesses,” and two companies that operate independent

ATMs.

The lawsuit doesn’t spell out the relationships between all the entities, but said Curcio is a member or president of about a dozen of the entities, and “involved with and thoroughly familiar with the day-today operations of all” the plaintiffs, “whose ownership and management personnel have interrelationships and overlaps, maintain 63 deposit accounts at the (Citizens Bank) branch with average aggregate deposits in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The lawsuit says that on Aug. 11, without notice, the bank “suddenly and wrongfully” closed all of the accounts and zeroed out the balances.

The money was restored to the accounts two days later, but the bank refused access to the funds and wouldn’t explain why, the suit says.

After a phone call between Curcio’s lawyer, Jonathan Klein, and an attorney at the bank, Geoffrey Millsom, the case was dropped a month later, according to the filing.

Millsom allegedly explained that the bank wanted to resolve the case, but that it couldn’t because of “third-party issues over which it does not have control,” Klein wrote.

Millsom declined to comment on the case.

Klein said the bank eventually gave Curcio his money back, so he dropped the lawsuit.

“We were able to get them to release the funds and settle the accounts that way,” he told Hearst Connecticut Media Group. “We didn’t end up litigating the reasons why the accounts were closed.”

Klein declined to speculate on who the third party cited by the bank’s lawyer could be.

Between Sept. 8 and

Oct. 14, People’s United closed Curcio’s personal checking account and other business accounts to which he was linked, also without explanation, the filing said.

Klein initiated a separate court filing against People’s United.

People’s United allegedly sent Curcio a letter Sept. 14 saying that it had reviewed his account “and determined that we will no longer provide banking services to you.”

“Our decision was based on a number of factors including our costs for compliance, regulatory obligations and potential risks,” Laila Khouri, the bank’s vice president of customer experience manager, wrote in the letter.

In a petition filed last month in Bridgeport Superior Court, Klein asked the bank to identify who decided to close Curcio’s account and why, and to turn over records related to the closure.

In response, the bank cited appellate court decisions that said the relationship between a bank and a customer is a voluntary relationship that can be terminated by either party and banks aren’t required to keep customer accounts.

In a filing this month, the bank asked a judge to toss Curcio’s complaint.

Curcio, “by his own express admission ... has absolutely no evidence of any facts or conduct that in any way give rise to a suspicion of a cause of action,” James Shearin, a lawyer representing the bank, wrote.

Shearin declined to comment on the case.

Klein said he was working on a reply to the bank’s filing.

In his initial filing, the lawyer wrote that without any information from the bank, Curcio “can only speculate at this point as to the actual reason or reasons for the account being closed by the bank.”

Kenneth Krayeske, a lawyer trying to collect a $200,000 judgment from Keeper’s on behalf of seven former employees for lost wages and unpaid overtime, said in a filing this month that the strip club is part of “a complex corporate web woven by the notorious Gus Curcio Sr., who is renowned for his corporate chicanery.”

Keeper’s is appealing the judgment.

Through Klein, Curcio declined to comment.