A grandnephew of late Genovese godfather Vinny “The Chin” Gigante and his deceased brother, Bronx priest Louis Gigante, allegedly siphoned off more than $600,000 from the family business, according to court papers.
Rev. Gigante, who was often spotted helping bathrobe-clad Vinny shuffle around the West Village in a bid to help the mobster stay out of jail by feigning insanity, built a $7 million real estate management empire over 40 years in the South Bronx.
Known as “Father G,” Louis helped create thousands of affordable housing units in the South Bronx in the 1970s and 1980s. He hired his grandnephew, Salvatore Gigante, 18 years ago “to give him a job as he had no relevant skills or experience,” Building Management Associates said in a Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit.
“Sal had no real estate knowledge whatsoever at the time. His college career focused on hammer throwing,” the firm snarked in the legal filing.
The retired priest died in October at age 89, leaving his estate and business empire to his son, Gino, 32. That the “iconic” priest had a son was an apparently open secret, according to The New York Times, which said Gino was raised in Westchester.
But instead of honoring Louis’s legacy, Salvatore, 43, allegedly chafed at the change in power.
He’d had an option to buy an ownership stake in the business empire — but was “livid” when he lost out for failing to make timely payments, according to the litigation.
Salvatore refused to give Gino access to business records, called the cops when he came to the office and began poaching employees, BMA said in court papers.
“My father was not even cold in his grave when Sal started plotting and scheming” to destroy BMA, Gino alleged.
Salvatore, who apparently slammed Gino in public as the priest’s “illegitimate son,” engaged in “massive corporate theft” from BMA, including using $183,000 in corporate cash to lease himself luxury cars and take out a $95,000 loan, according to the litigation.
Salvatore Gigante also took a no-show job at another family business for medical and dental insurance and issued more than $182,000 in payments to himself over seven years, for a total theft of more than $309,000, the second company, Fox River, charged in a separate lawsuit against him.
He was fired from BMA in January, but retained his spot on the board of another of Louis’ companies, SEBCO, or South East Bronx Community Organization.
The cousin then tried “stealing” BMA’s business, coaxing nine employees to leave Building Management Associates and join SEBCO; trying to transfer BMA’s database to an account he controlled; and allegedly convincing all 15 property owners BMA worked with to terminate their agreements, Gino claimed in the legal filing.
BMA wants a judge to order Salvatore to stop interfering with its business, along with damages equal to what it claims he stole.
“There is no way to know what else Sal is up to and the steps he may take next,” BMA alleged in court papers.
Salvatore Gigante denied the allegations. In his own legal filing, he argued he was simply separating SEBCO and BMA’s operations after he was terminated from Building Management Associates, and has been bringing work “in-house” to SEBCO.