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Mobsters 0, "Scam Artist"/"Victim" 1
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 25, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 25, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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When you borrow $100,000 from mobsters and stop repaying, you'd have to expect some retribution. So after Howard Beach resident Yvonne Rossetti was threatened to be stuffed into a trunk by two "reputed Bonanno soldiers," the mobsters were jailed for Christmas. Rossetti claimed the men could make a killing on a real estate deal, and when they figured out it was a scam, they threatened her. So her husband wore a wire and turned them over to the feds. But it doesn't mean the mobsters' lawyers didn't try to point out Rossetti's flaws.
According to the Daily News, Rossetti was described as an "out-and-out scam artist," allegedly conning relatives "out of $400,000 in a real estate pyramid scheme." Snap! And Steve Zissou, a lawyer for one of the supposed wiseguys (not an aquatic explorer, but he did clear the movie's usage of his name), says that Rossetti uses her severely handicapped daughter as bait for scams:
A relative of Rossetti's estranged husband claims Rossetti begged for money to pay her daughter's nurses because of a foulup by Medicaid. The relative allegedly lent $25,000 to Rossetti, who promised she would repay her when a bond came due. "Of course the money was never repaid," Zissou said.
Questions have also been raised by acquaintances of how Rossetti spent money from fund-raisers held for her daughter's care.
Court records show Rossetti unsuccessfully sued her daughter's doctors in a malpractice suit and has been dunned by medical offices and Mandee dress shops.
Double snap! Two reputed mobsters are being held without bail; another associate is out on $1 million bail. In the mean time, Rossetti has moved from Queens.
Tagged
christmas
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daily news
howard beach
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News: NYC
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steve zissou
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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