Double Execution on Staten Island: Was It a Mob Hit? Story Continues to Develop...

UPDATED JAN. 26
A person of interest in the double murders on Staten Island is being grilled by police, according to an NYPD spokesman, who declined to provide further details.

The suspect, questioned at the 69th Precinct stationhouse, has not yet been charged, according to published reports.

Community advocate Tony Herbert is offering a $2,500 reward.

Photograph of where the double homicide was committed.

The double murders committed this past Tuesday evening on Staten Island at Universal Merchant Funding's storefront initially was reported to have been the work of a "disgruntled ex-employee," according to the New York Post, which noted that the suspect was taken into custody on another charge, violating his supervised release from federal prison.

Sources revealed that the shooter walked into the storefront on Buel Ave. near Zoe St., after closing hours and entered a rear office at that location where he killed both the owner and an employee who is known to have been an SEC whistleblower at a previous employer.

Nothing apparently was stolen so robbery is not considered the motive. The gunman appears to have known there wasn't any cash on the premises, according to police.



The gunman may have worn a mask, law enforcement officials have said.

One victim was Michael Genovese, 57, of Edgewater, N.J., who reportedly ran the business.

The other, 52, was Carl Clark, who was fired from a financial planning company after he blew the whistle on a secret data-selling scheme, as the New York Post reported.

"As far as I know, as the whistleblower, he was the state’s only witness," a source told the Post.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce


The double homicide took place Tuesday night at around 6:15 p.m. The location where the murders were committed is 124 Buel Avenue.

Michael (Mikie Scars) DiLeonardo, former Gambino capo, reached by telephone and asked for his thoughts on the shooting, said: "It's too clean."

"They were professionals, it looks like they knew what they were doing."

READ Scars on Gambino Boss Castellano's Reign


The shooting struck DiLeonardo as professional as soon as he read about it, he said.

"You don't shoot two guys in the back of the head in a robbery."

Police are searching for the suspect.

The Daily News has reported information that updated the story:

"The case has advanced quickly overnight," NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told the News.


Two men were shot three times apiece last night

"We don’t believe it’s a robbery. We believe one or two of these males were purposefully targeted by the shooter."

Each man had been "shot three times at close range."

"That’s six rounds," the NYPD’s head detective said. "We believe the shooter knew one or both of these men. We have a long way to go."

Furthermore, "(h)omicide investigators are pouring over transactions made by the loan business as well as employee records."

Two witnesses called 911, one of whom saw the shooter from the distance as he jumped into a gray or charcoal-colored Hyundai or Acura sedan, cops said.

"We do have a vehicle that fled the scene," Boyce said. "We’re trying to find out where that vehicle went."

It was supposedly last seen hurtling eastward on Dongan Hills Ave. toward the Hylan Blvd. intersection.





Genovese is listed as the owner of the business, according to published reports.

Universal Merchant Funding, which has existed 10 years, provides loans. Nancy Cucuzza was listed as president; the company's website is currently down.



DEVELOPING



READ Toppling Carlo Gambino on 1966 La Stella Meeting Agenda?


See Daily News story
See New York Post story






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