Episode 232: Scott Garriola – Chippendales, Murder-For-Hire

Retired agent Scott Garriola served in the FBI for over 31 years. He was assigned to the New Orleans Division where he worked Public Corruption, Italian Organized Crime and Drugs investigations until he was transferred to the Los Angeles Division, where he was initially assigned to an OC squad.

On this episode of FBI Retired Case File Review, Scott reviews his investigation of Steve Banerjee, the owner of the Chippendales, who hired a hitman to murder his choreographer and business partner, Nick De Noia.

The Chippendales are a touring dance troupe best known for its male striptease shows and for the dancers’ display of their chiseled chests and defined pectoral muscles accented by bow ties, collars, and shirt cuffs similar to those worn by Playboy bunnies.

Scott, a relatively new agent, at the time, worked this international murder-for-hire case with veteran agent Andrew Stefanak, now deceased.

Later in his career, Scott moved to a Violent Crimes Squad where he worked primarily fugitives or “88s” (FBI case category). He made over 2,000 arrests, and as the lead agent was responsible for the apprehension of 6 fugitives on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List, including the infamous Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger.

He currently works as an FBI consultant on several television shows such as FBI, FBI Most Wanted, Clarice and All Rise.

You can contact Scott via his LinkedIn profile.

Special Agent (Retired)

Scott Garriola

6/5/1988 – 9/30/2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“[After his arrest] Colon says, ‘I’m down here. The people you want are up here.’ Obviously there’s somebody above Colon responsible for this murder-for-hire plot.”—Retired agent Scott Garriola

The following are links to news articles about the Chippendales murder-for-hire investigation:

FBI Website: Murder-For-Hire

Los Angeles Times – 7/30/1994: Chippendale’s Owner Admits Murder – Man who began male stripper revue pleads guilty to homicide, racketeering charges

New York Post –  2/7/2021: The shockingly dark history of Chippendales

The Sun.com – 2/20/21: FLESH AND BLOOD – How the Chippendales’ success led to arson, fraud and cold-blooded murder

The Daily Guardian – 5/20/2021: KUMAIL NANJIANI TO PLAY CHIPPENDALES FOUNDER SOMEN ‘STEVE’ BANERJEE IN HULU SERIES

Oxygen – 5/21/2021: How Former FBI Agents Are Making Your Favorite Crime Shows More Realistic

You may also be interested in listening to this fascinating episode about the making of a hitman:

Episode 181: Phil Coghlan – Hit Man: A Technical Manual For Independent Contractors

FBI surveillance photo of Steve Banerjee, the suspect, stepping out of his Mercedes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An image of Scott (on left) with the late SA Dave Shelby, the tech agent, (top) the late SA Andrew Stefanak, his partner and mentor (right); the late Cooperating Witness Augustine Ralph Angel Colon aka Ray Colon (middle) during their trip to Italy and Zurich in 1993.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surveillance photo taken of cooperating witness Ray Colon and Gilberto Lopez Rivera, aka “Louie” during a consensually monitored meeting at a California State prison in 1992.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage photo of dancers from a 1980s calendar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chippendales are still doing their thing around the world. Learn more (or get your tickets) here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jerri Williams

View posts by Jerri Williams
Jerri Williams, a retired FBI agent, author and podcaster, jokes that she writes about the FBI to relive her glory days. After 26 years with the Bureau specializing in major economic fraud and corruption investigations, she calls on her professional encounters with scams and schemers to write police procedurals inspired by true crime FBI cases in her Philadelphia FBI Corruption Squad crime fiction series featuring flawed female FBI agent Kari Wheeler. Jerri’s FBI for Armchair Detectives nonfiction series enables readers to discover who the FBI is and what the FBI does by debunking misconceptions about the FBI in books, TV, and movies. Her books are available as ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks wherever books are sold. She’s also the host of FBI Retired Case File Review, a true crime podcast with more than 300 episodes available on all popular podcast apps and YouTube.

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  1. […] 232: Scott Garriola – Chippendales, Murder-For-Hire […]

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