Reputed former mob banker and convicted felon Joe (The Puppy Dog) Mollicone, Jr., the poster boy for causing an east coast banking crisis in the 1990s, is the focus of the most recent Crimetown podcast centering on organized crime and corruption in the city of Providence, Rhode Island. You can listen to Episode No. 13 of the 20-episode first season, titled, “The Network” here.
Mollicone, Jr. was busted for embezzling more than $10,000,000 from hundreds of his customers at his Heritage Loan & Investment bank in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Retired Patriarca crime family don Luigi (Baby Shacks) Manocchio is believed by federal authorities to have “controlled” Mollicone for the mafia. A beloved and highly-respected gangland elder statesman, the 89-year old Manocchio got out of prison on extortion and racketeering charges two years ago.
Law enforcement surveillance shows Manocchio frequenting the bank before it went under in 1990 as a result of Mollicone, Jr.’s pilfering of its coffers. Mollicone, Jr. took the brunt of the blame for the 1991 Rhode Island banking crisis and fled the state with millions of dollars in his pockets the same year. Finally apprehended by authorities in April 1992, Mollicone, Jr. was found guilty at a jury trial on 26 counts of embezzlement and fraud and did a decade behind bars in prison. He was released in 2002 and is responsible for paying $12,000,000 in restitution fees. The federal government has an order against him to fork over $33,000,000 in unpaid taxes dating back to 1986.
The post And They Call It Puppy Love: Crimetown Podcast Puts The Microscope On Mobbed-Up Providence Banker appeared first on The Gangster Report.