---
category: Organized Crime
summary: When a grand jury indicted Pisello on a second round of tax charges on July
  9, 1987, Rudnick 'opened fire on MCA.' His press release announcing the indictment
  documented MCA's payments to Pisello's company, Consultants for World Records, which
  Rudnick stated was 'shared' with New York organized crim
tags:
- Person
- OrganizedCrime
---

[Sal Pisello](/people/sal-pisello/) was an alleged [Gambino](/organizations/gambino-crime-family/) mobster. He was investigated by [Marvin Rudnick](/people/marvin-rudnick/) for tax evasion and his relationship with [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/). Pisello was convicted of tax evasion in March 1985. Rudnick's investigation into Pisello's income from [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/) launched another investigation at the urging of the IRS.[^1]

William Knoedelseder, Jr., a business reporter for the *Los Angeles Times*, broke a story on May 10, 1985, revealing that Pisello's involvement with [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/) was more extensive than Rudnick had realized. Knoedelseder obtained a report prepared by internal corporate auditors of [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/) detailing payments to Pisello. These press revelations rekindled government interest in Pisello's involvement with [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/).[^1]

When a grand jury indicted Pisello on a second round of tax charges on July 9, 1987, Rudnick "opened fire on [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/)." His press release announcing the indictment documented [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/)'s payments to Pisello's company, Consultants for World Records, which Rudnick stated was "shared" with [New York City](/places/new-york-city/) organized crime figures. By the Fall of 1987, [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/) hired [William Hundley](/people/william-hundley/) to plead its case to top [Justice Department](/organizations/department-of-justice/) officials.[^1]

[Irving Azoff](/people/irving-azoff/) and Pisello were discussed in phone conversations captured by [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) wiretaps. [Eugene Giaquinto](/people/eugene-giaquinto/) said he was considering sending the [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/) board of directors an incriminating letter prepared in 1985 on behalf of Pisello, sent to Azoff, which would conflict with Azoff's testimony at the trial.[^1]

---

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.