Mobster Who Forced Extortion Victim to Strip Naked in Garage Found Guilty

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13 October, 2024

Bomb threat forces evacuation of casino.
Bonanno gangster John “The Maniac” Ragano found guilty in extortion trial.
Jurors heard testimony that Ragano forced a man to strip naked in his garage as part of the extortion.
Crypto Fraudster Pulls a Houdini — Escapes NYC Home Detention on $5m Bond.

Casino

Kansas Star Casino Reopens Following Bomb Threat and Forced Evacuation

SUMNER COUNTY, Kan. (KAKE) - The Kansas Star Casino has reopened after a report of a threat Friday evening forced all patrons to evacuate for a few hours.

Mulvane Director of Public Safety Gordon Fell says they received a call around 5:30 p.m. about a threat to the casino, which was immediately evacuated as authorities searched the area. In addition, a bomb sniffing dog and handler were called in to the scene.

"Nothing's been found out of the ordinary at this point," Fell said.

The casino opened around four hours later.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident. If you have any information, call the KBI or Crime Stoppers.

Mobster

Bonanno Gangster John “The Maniac” Ragano Found Guilty in Extortion Trial

62-year-old John "The Maniac" Ragano has been convicted of loan sharking and extortion.

A jury found him guilty late last week.

Ragano, a Bonanno Crime Family soldier, is alleged to have forced a loan sharking victim to strip naked in his Queens auto parts shop.

Ragano, who also goes by the nickname “Bazoo,” was accused of repeatedly pressuring Vincent Martino, a mob-connected construction business owner, into paying back a $150,000 street loan — even after he’d already been convicted and was awaiting sentencing in a case involving that same loan.

Some of the extortion occurred inside the federal courthouse, a crime that U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Breon Peace called “an affront to the criminal justice system and a glaring example of this Bonanno mobster’s flagrant disrespect for the law.”

“With today’s verdict, the jury has delivered a clear message that the rule of law will prevail over extortionate threats,” Peace said.

“The defendant wanted his money, and he was going to get it one way or the other,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Lash said. “He knew how those demands would be understood — pay or face the violent consequences.”

Ragano received some good news in that the jury acquitted him on charges of witness tampering.

Crypto

Crypto Fraudster Pulls a Houdini — Escapes NYC Home Detention on $5m Bond

A German national, Horst Jicha, has reportedly vanished from his New York City apartment while out on $5 million bond. Jicha is accused of running a $150 million crypto scam.

He claimed to offer lucrative cryptocurrency investments through his company USI Tech and now faces charges of securities fraud and conspiracy. The scam allegedly promised 140% returns from crypto investments and operated like a ponzi scheme.

It was on October 3 that authorities first noticed his ankle bracelet monitoring no longer worked. Jicha then skipped a scheduled hearing.

According to FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith, “the platform was just a facade,” allowing Jicha to “steal millions of his investors’ money and flee the country.”

A manhunt is currently underway.

Jicha is scheduled to begin a trial in March on multiple charges of securities fraud and conspiracy related to a multi-level marketing scheme known as USI Tech.

By Jagajeet Chiba

Jagajeet has been a beat reporter for the Gambling911.com website for well over a decade now. He typically covers the quirky and dark side of the gambling sector. He is from Mumbai.