Video shows the moment an elderly reputed mobster punched a Manhattan restaurateur in an alleged attempt to collect on an $86,000 debt.
Jurors were shown the 55-second clip Wednesday at the ongoing Brooklyn federal trial for 86-year-old Anthony “Rom” Romanello — an alleged capo in the Genovese crime family — who is accused of shaking down Shuqeri “Bruno” Selimaj to collect the debt owed by two of the steakhouse owner’s relatives.
Surveillance footage from Selimaj’s since-shuttered eatery Lincoln Square Steak shows him in a heated discussion with the accused aging mafioso — who then delivers a quick right-handed jab that lands on the restaurateur’s jaw.
Flanking Romanello, a man who Selimaj identified as Mike Regan, an Irish bookie, can allegedly be seen grabbing Selimaj’s jacket threateningly as the businessman backs up before wagging a finger pointed at his aggressors.
Selimaj gestures expressively with his arms and hands as others inside the establishment try to break up the trio before Regan and Romanello eventually walk out the restaurant doors, the footage shows.
“Rom kept saying, ‘I’d like to punch you’ … I said, ‘You have no guts to punch me,’” Selimaj recounted for the jury on Wednesday about the May 11, 2017, encounter.
“A few seconds later, he punched me.”
After Selimaj informed the two men they were recorded on his restaurant’s security cameras, Romanello said, “Let’s get out of here,” Selimaj testified.
Romanello’s lawyer, Jerry McMahon, told jurors that the punch had nothing to do with an extortion plot — claiming his client was merely defending his honor after Selimaj insulted him by calling him a “washed-up Italian” who “had no balls” and saying he “was nothing.”
McMahon also said that while prosecutors want the jury to perceive Romanello as delivering the blow like 1950s American boxing legend Rocky Marciano would have, “people who have viewed the video will say my client punches like a girl.”
Prosecutors claimed that the alleged mafiosi had visited Selimaj three times, including on the day of the attack, threatening him so he would pay off his relatives’ debt.
Selimaj, the first witness in the case, recounted the conversation leading up to the hit, claiming that he’d offered to pay his nephew’s $6,000 debt, but told Romanello he wouldn’t pay his nephew’s brother-in-law’s $80,000 debt — throwing the reputed wiseguy into a rage.
That night, Selimaj reported the incident to the police, but he recanted the next day after his brother conveyed to him a threatening message allegedly from reputed Genovese soldier Joseph Celso, he testified.
His brother, Shemsi “Nino” Selimaj, also a restaurateur who appeared as himself in the 2019 movie “Uncut Gems” with Adam Sandler, testified Thursday about Celso’s alleged warnings — that sounded like they came straight out of “The Sopranos.”
“He said that [my brother] better drop the charges, to withdraw the police report otherwise it would be ugly,” Shemsi said of Celso, noting the two have known each other for 17 years.
During the conversation at Shemsi’s restaurant, Celso told him the “money must be paid” and ominously warned that his brother should drop the charges against Romanello, he testified.
Afraid things would escalate, Shemsi said he related the threat to his brother.
“Joe [Celso] told me if Rom [Romanella] gets arrested, somebody is going to pay the price,” he recounted.
Celso is on trial alongside Romanello on extortion charges and one additional charge of obstruction of justice for the alleged threat he sent to Selimaj.
Celso and Romanello were allegedly recruited in the extortion scheme by apparent Genovese associate, Queens bookie and wannabe Albanian film start Luan Bexheti.
Celso’s lawyer, Gerrard Marrone, Wednesday denied his client was involved in any extortion scheme.
“He didn’t menace anyone, certainly didn’t punch anyone,” Marrone said. “My client is not involved in the drama.”
But Selimaj said he knew that the visits from the mobsters to his establishment were meant to intimidate him and he was scared for himself and for his nephew’s well-being. So he eventually paid all of the money that was owed.
“I was afraid this Mafia guy was going to hurt me, [hurt] my nephew,” he testified.
His brother told jurors that the debt was eventually settled with Selimaj paying $6,000, another $49,000 coming from the relative’s dad and Shemsi chipping in $35,000 of his own money.
“All the money was paid to Joe,” he said.
Brooklyn federal prosecutor Rebecca Schuman, during her opening statements, told the jury: “Bruno knew that crossing Romanello could have real consequences — violent consequences.”
Bexheti pleaded guilty in the case on Oct. 4.
Romanello faces up to 40 years behind bars if found guilty, while Celso faces up to 60 years’ imprisonment if convicted on all charges.
