Richard Martino, born in 1961, became one of the most financially influential figures associated with the New York–based Gambino crime family. While many organized-crime members historically relied on traditional rackets such as gambling, extortion, or loan-sharking, Martino represented a newer generation of mobsters who explored the opportunities created by emerging technology. His ventures into Internet-based schemes and phone-billing fraud brought unprecedented profits to the family, ultimately costing consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. These scams also highlighted a shift within the American underworld: organized crime had recognized the financial potential of the digital age, and Martino was among the first to pave that path.

Over time, Martino became regarded as a highly valuable earner. His rising wealth was visible in his lifestyle—he owned luxurious properties in Harrison and Southampton, New York, wore designer clothing such as Prada shoes, and drove high-end vehicles like a Mercedes-Benz. These outward displays of wealth reflected the immense profits generated from the schemes he helped develop. Martino’s ventures were not merely small-scale hustles; they were sophisticated, large-operation frauds that exploited loopholes in technological systems and capitalized on the rapid expansion of the Internet during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

One of Martino’s most notorious operations involved an elaborate online pornography scam he developed alongside Gambino capo Salvatore LoCascio. At the time, adult entertainment websites commonly allowed potential viewers to explore a sample or short “tour” of the site for free, usually requiring a credit card number as proof that the user was over the age of 18. Martino and LoCascio replicated that standard model so convincingly that visitors had no immediate reason to suspect foul play. However, after users entered their credit card information, the scheme quietly charged them recurring monthly subscription fees they had never agreed to. Most victims either failed to notice the charges immediately or found it difficult to resolve the fraudulent billing due to the vague or misleading company names attached to the transactions. By the time the scheme was uncovered, authorities estimated that unsuspecting individuals had been collectively billed around $230 million.

The concept for this online con reportedly came from a relative of Martino, who had experience creating content designed to attract male audiences—specifically a course teaching men strategies for picking up women. While the relative’s original project was legitimate, Martino recognized the enormous financial potential in combining such marketing approaches with online subscription-based billing systems, then manipulating those systems for illegal profit. This fusion of strategy and deception resulted in one of the largest Internet fraud operations of its era.

The pornography-website scam was not Martino’s only major venture into technology-related crime. He and LoCascio also masterminded a large-scale phone-billing scheme known as “cramming.” Cramming is a fraudulent practice in which unauthorized charges are added to a consumer’s telephone bill, often disguised as small fees for services the customer never requested. These charges often appear minor—sometimes only a few dollars—which makes them easy to overlook. However, when multiplied across thousands or millions of victims, the cumulative profits become enormous. Martino and LoCascio perfected this method, directing fake service fees to appear on bills nationwide. Investigators later estimated that the cramming scheme alone cost customers about $420 million.

Given the immense scale and financial damage of these operations, it was unsurprising that the federal government eventually launched multiple investigations against Martino. On March 18, 2003, authorities in New York charged him in connection with racketeering and fraud stemming from the online-billing scam. Less than a year later, on February 10, 2004, he was indicted again, this time for his involvement in the telephone-billing conspiracy. These charges made clear that federal prosecutors viewed Martino not as a small-time offender but as a major architect of technologically sophisticated fraud.

Martino’s criminal involvement extended beyond his online and telephone scams. In a related case, both he and his brother Daniel Martino faced federal charges connected to fraudulent practices involving the Cass County Telephone Company, a rural telecom provider in Missouri. Richard, then 45, and Daniel, then 54, were accused of conspiring to defraud government subsidy programs by artificially inflating the company’s operational expenses.

The Martino brothers controlled a Maryland holding company, Local Exchange Company LLC, which owned Cass County Telephone (commonly referred to as CassTel). The telephone company served about 8,000 customers in the Kansas City region and was eligible for subsidies designed to support infrastructure in rural areas. Prosecutors alleged that beginning in 1998, the Martinos—working alongside CassTel president Kenneth M. Matzdorff—intentionally exaggerated the company’s expenses so they could receive a larger portion of government disbursements intended for high-cost rural service providers.

A major component of the scheme involved Overland Data Center, a firm controlled by Richard Martino. The data center billed CassTel approximately $11 million for software and IT support, but federal investigators estimated the services were worth only about $240,000. These dramatically inflated invoices allowed CassTel to present itself as a much more expensive operation than it truly was, thereby qualifying for significantly higher payments from two major funding mechanisms.

A major component of the scheme involved Overland Data Center, a firm controlled by Richard Martino. The data center billed CassTel approximately $11 million for software and IT support, but federal investigators estimated the services were worth only about $240,000. These dramatically inflated invoices allowed CassTel to present itself as a much more expensive operation than it truly was, thereby qualifying for significantly higher payments from two major funding mechanisms.