{"slug":"trump-pre-presidency-mafia-connections-fat-tony","title":"Organized Crime Connections: Concrete, Casinos, and the Five Families","date":"1980-01-01","lastUpdated":"2016-05-22","description":"Multiple investigative journalists, academics, and law enforcement officials documented connections between Trump's early real estate development in New York City and organized crime figures. Trump Tower's concrete was supplied by a company co-owned by Genovese and Gambino crime family bosses through an intermediary, S&A Concrete; Trump's Atlantic City casinos were connected to mob-controlled union pension funds; and Trump associate Felix Sater, who later worked on Trump Tower Moscow, had a criminal past tied to organized crime. These connections were documented through court records, congressional testimony, and investigative reporting.","summary":"Building in 1980s New York required navigating a concrete industry dominated by organized crime. Trump Tower, built 1980-1983, used S&A Concrete, a company co-owned by Anthony 'Fat Tony' Salerno (Genovese crime boss) and Paul Castellano (Gambino crime boss) through intermediaries. Trump's relationship with Roy Cohn — who simultaneously represented multiple mob clients — connected him to the broader organized crime ecosystem. His Atlantic City casinos dealt with labor unions whose pension funds and leadership had documented mob ties. These relationships did not make Trump a mobster; they documented the environment in which he built his early business empire and the tolerance or accommodation he showed to organized crime-connected business partners.","category":"corruption","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/donald-trump-2016-mob-organized-crime-213910","title":"Donald Trump and the Mob","publisher":"Politico"},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/us/politics/donald-trump-mob.html","title":"For Trump, Three Decades of Ties to Organized Crime","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-mob-connections-atlantic-city/2016/05/21/story.html","title":"Trump's mob connections: The concrete, the casinos, the company","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-organized-crime-mob-connections-sa-concrete","title":"Trump's business ties to the mob documented","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["organized-crime","Salerno","S-A-Concrete","pre-presidency","corruption","Roy-Cohn","Atlantic-City","mob"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"1973-01-01","title":"Trump meets Roy Cohn — organized crime attorney","summary":"Trump meets Roy Cohn through the 1973 housing discrimination suit. Cohn simultaneously represents Trump and multiple organized crime clients including the Genovese crime family. The relationship lasts until Cohn's disbarment in 1986."},{"date":"1980-01-01","title":"Trump Tower construction begins — S&A Concrete used","summary":"Construction of Trump Tower begins. S&A Concrete, controlled through intermediaries by Genovese boss Salerno and Gambino boss Castellano, is the primary concrete supplier. The New York concrete industry is operating as a mob-controlled cartel at this time."},{"date":"1986-01-01","title":"Roy Cohn disbarred — Trump stops returning his calls","summary":"Roy Cohn is disbarred by the New York court for professional misconduct. Trump, who had described Cohn as a close friend and mentor, stops returning his calls. Cohn dies of AIDS several months later. Trump does not visit him."},{"date":"2002-01-01","title":"Felix Sater joins Trump Organization — prior criminal history","summary":"Felix Sater, who had pleaded guilty to stabbing a man with a broken margarita glass and had been involved in a $40 million stock fraud with organized crime connections, begins working from Trump Tower on Trump projects. He later holds business cards identifying him as a senior Trump adviser."},{"date":"2016-05-22","title":"NYT and Politico publish comprehensive mob connection investigations","summary":"Multiple major publications publish investigative series documenting three decades of Trump's ties to organized crime figures and mob-connected businesses. Trump denies the characterizations."}],"location":{"name":"New York, NY / Atlantic City, NJ","lat":40.7128,"lng":-74.006},"custom":{"era":"pre-presidency","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Businesses and workers subjected to mob-controlled construction markets; taxpayers and investors in companies that paid above-market prices due to mob-controlled concrete industry price-fixing","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Developer who chose and retained organized crime-connected contractors and maintained relationships with Roy Cohn who represented mob clients; business decisions made within a documented mob-connected environment","institution":"Trump Organization"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2016-05-22","summary":"Based on May 2016 investigative reporting by multiple outlets."}]}}