Local Man Charged in Loan Shark Scheme

BETHEL, CT — New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the arrests and indictment of a Bethel man and nine other individuals on charges stemming from the alleged operation of loan sharking and gambling activities controlled by the Lucchese organised crime family.

Steve Murray, 49, of Bethel, and eight men from Westchester County have been charged with Enterprise Corruption, along with underlying crimes of Usury in the First Degree and Promoting Gambling in the First Degree. The Enterprise Corruption charge alone carries a maximum penalty of 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison.
The alleged loan sharking operation is the largest such operation ever investigated by the New York Attorney General, with usurious interest payouts exceeding a million dollars just during the approximately one-year investigation, named “Operation The Vig Is Up.” The operations involved the loan sharking and bookmaking activities of alleged Lucchese “made member” Dominick Capelli and alleged Lucchese “Associates” or “non-made” crew members in Westchester and the Bronx.

The investigators identified over 47 distinct loan sharking victims, many with multiple loans, who were preyed on by the defendants.

“As we allege, this brazen ring of criminals preyed on New Yorkers – using a gambling operation to funnel victims into their loan sharking operation, and then saddling them with usurious loan payments,” said Attorney General Schneiderman in a media release. “My office will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to root out organized crime and prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law.”