Mob Blog: I Smell A Rat

Mob Blog: I Smell A Rat, January 3, 2012

[dcs_p]Business meet at my office in Boca. But it’s really a farce. This guy comes to me–dropping names to impress me–letting me know he’s “connected”. He wants to set up pain clinics in a couple of strips malls I own in Broward. He could do this the regular way by leasing space … why involve me? But he wants my protection, which translates to “no trouble with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office or the Fort Lauderdale police”. I already know it’s a no-go, but I ask him what’s in it for me. “Thirty percent of the action,” he says.[/dcs_p]His action is peddling scripts, but his real money comes from defrauding Medicare, claiming he’s into them for close to ten mil. It’s the scam of the hour, and every hustler in South Florida is in on it. So now I know he’s a phony and probably a rat. I give him a little smile and tell him I’m not interested. “It’s not how I do business.”[/dcs_p][dcs_p]I Smell A Rat is told from the point of view of Bellomo’s main character, mobster Louie Morelli. If you enjoyed this anecdote, check out Bellomo’s books at: www.patriciabellomo.com