EX-N.J. GOV. Jon Corzine's personal chauffeur was the victim of a Mafia shakedown in the meat locker of a Brooklyn butcher shop, the Daily News has learned.
Bonanno crime soldier Michael (Mike the Butcher) Virtuoso pleaded guilty last month to extortion in connection with a loan that had a 250% interest rate.
He is referred to only as "John Doe" in the Brooklyn Federal Court indictment .
The driver got a $1,000 loan from Virtuoso and made the payments in the amounts of $50 and $100 in the rear office of the mobster's Graham Ave. Meats & Deli in Williamsburg — and on one occasion "inside a walk-in freezer," according to court papers.
"Although I did not threaten him, it was understood that harm could be used if he did not pay," Virtuoso told Judge Sandra Townes.
Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs CEO, served as governor from 2006 to 2010.
The shakedown occurred between September 2009 and December 2010 before the victim worked for Corzine, sources said.
Robert Nardoza, a sookesman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said "Corzine had absolutely nothing to do with the (organized crime) investigation."
Prosecutors had accused Virtuoso of using his butcher shop as cover for a lucrative loanshark racket. Defense lawyer Joseph DiBenedetto declined comment.Neither the victim or his lawyer returned a call for comment.
Corzine has other woes: his security firm MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday amid allegations that client and company funds were not kept separate.
Millions of dollars in customers' funds reportedly may be missing . Messages left at MF Global were not immediately returned.
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