Surviving the Mob by Dennis Griffin Read Free Book Online Page B

okay to make the loans, but the money was tightly controlled and only went to low-risk borrowers.
    “Here’s how shylocking works. Interest is based on the point system. One point equals one dollar of interest on every hundred dollars borrowed. That’s a weekly payment, not monthly or annually.

    “For example, a six-thousand-dollar loan at three points meant a hundred eighty dollars a week in interest. If I got the money from Nicky at one point, he’d get sixty dollars and I’d get a hundred twenty. I charged different points depending on the size of the loan. More points on small loans because there was less money involved and they got paid off quicker. There were less points on the larger loans, because you didn’t want to choke the customer with interest. If I had a real good customer, I’d sometimes give him a deal called a knockdown loan. Under that scenario, for every four weekly payments, two went for interest and two came directly off the principal.
    “There was good money in shylocking. But as careful as I was about who I loaned to, every once in a while I’d get a deadbeat I’d have to chase down and get his attention. Overall, though, it was a good business.”

SHAKEUP AT THE TOP
    On the evening of December 16, Gambino family boss Paul Castellano and his bodyguard and driver Tommy Bilotti were gunned down on the street in front of Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. The killings were carried out on the orders of John Gotti, who had developed a hatred for Castellano. Gotti and his friend and confidant Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano observed from a car parked across the street as the assassinations were carried out.
    Castellano’s death elevated Gotti to the throne of power in the family. The new boss’ dislike for Nicky Corozzo caused angst in the Corozzo crew. The jailed Lenny DiMaria sent a message from his prison cell: “What’s going to be waiting for me when I get out? A bullet?”

    For Andrew, the year finished better than it started.The Todd Alvino matter no longer weighed on him. And the manner in which it was resolved had added to his stature. Although there was uncertainty over the direction the family would take under the leadership of John Gotti, the only problem for Andrew personally was the continuing friction with Mike Yannotti.

 

    7
1986
    For Andrew, 1986 could be called the Year of Fraud. It encompassed a fraudulent employment scheme, credit-card fraud, and a scam involving rebuildable cars. It also included a confrontation with a Russian gang over drug turf. However, the year began with romance.
    Andrew had dated his share of girls as a teenager and an up-and-coming mobster. Now a streetwise 20-year-old, he entered his first serious relationship. The girl’s name was Dina and he was introduced to her by Anthony Gerbino at a club in Sheepshead Bay. Dina was with a guy and they were arguing.
    “I walked up to their table and whispered in her ear. I said, ‘You can spend the night arguing with him or you can come home with me.’ She went home with me. After that night, we were together all the time. I was a year older than her and we were just alike. Too much alike, maybe. Our relationship was passionate and tumultuous.”
    It began with violence the first day he went to her apartment. Dina told Andrew her ex-boyfriend Ronnie was stalking her. He followed her around and sat outside her window on the fire escape. When Andrew was there, Ronnie started ringing the doorbell. Andrew saw by the look on her face that she was scared. He opened up the door and told Ronnie tobeat it. Ronnie wasn’t happy with that and they had words.
    “I pulled my gun out of my pants and pistol whipped him right there in the hallway. When I hit him, he fell two or three steps down the stairs and the gun slipped out of my hand onto the landing. He started back up the stairs toward me and I kicked him in the throat. This time he fell all the way down to the next landing. These were marble stairs.