THIS ‘FAMILY’ ALL BIZ
Kin of late mob boss Gigante & his priest bro battle in court
This legal war is all in the family: A dispute between the kin of late Genovese mob boss Vincent Gigante.
The grandnephew of Gigante — aka “The Chin” — pilfered more than $500,000 from Building Management Associates in the Bronx, a property management company established in 1980 by the crime lord’s sibling, Father Louis Gigante, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court.
Louis Gigante, a Catholic priest, hired Salvatore Gigante 18 years ago “out of the goodness of his heart,” lawyers for the property management company said in court filings. “Sal had no real estate knowledge at the time. His college career focused on hammer throwing,” the papers say.
Louis Gigante died this past October at age 89, leaving his $7 million estate to his son Gino — a 32-year-old whose lineage to the not-so-celibate priest emerged in the ensuing months. The New York Times reported the priest’s fatherhood was known to many, and the son was raised in Westchester County.
“Father G was not even cold in his grave when Sal started plotting and scheming,” court papers charged.
According to court documents, the 43-year-old grandnephew was fired from Building Management Associates two months ago after Gino discovered Sal leased luxury cars for 13 years at a cost of more than $183,000.
The papers additionally charged Sal with taking $95,000 from the firm’s corporate accounts, and sought an additional $287,000 in compensation.
The court papers demand a trial by jury in the case.
The priest, renowned for his decades of work in revitalizing the South Bronx, was just as well known for standing by his bathrobe-wearing mob boss brother across decades before Vincent Gigante’s final conviction on federal charges in 2003.
The Chin, who dodged frustrated prosecutors by feigning mental health woes while running the powerful crime family, died behind bars two years later at age 77. Salvatore, though fired in January, retained his spot on the board of another company run by the late priest, the South East Bronx Community Organization (SEBCO).
He alleged in court documents that Gino and Father G’s longtime attorney Irwin Siegel dismissed him from Building Management Associates in a menacing fashion.
The pair “entered the office together with three unidentified individuals carrying guns on their waists,” said Salvatore, who watched the scene via a video link. “Gino brandished my termination letter [from Building Management Associates] as if a search warrant to all the employees, and announced that he was now in charge.”
Salvatore was also accused in court papers of trying to steal Building Management’s business, in part by trying to lure nine employees from to SEBCO, court documents alleged. The Building Management Associates lawsuit also asked for an order requiring Salvatore to steer clear of the business now run by Gino Gigante.
“There is no way to know what else Sal is up to and the steps he may take next,” Building Management Associates alleged in court papers.