The FBI is mourning the death of longtime agent Salvatore Sal Cincinelli, 41, a top financial crimes investigator.
Cincinelli reportedly died of at least one gunshot wound in the middle of a crowded Texas nightclub during a night out with colleagues.
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Cincinelli was an FBI special agent that spearheaded many of the bureaus highest-profile financial investigations. In his nine years of service, Cincinelli had headed up investigations into Wall Street banks as well as the finances of the Clinton Foundation. A native New Yorker, Cincinelli reportedly gave up a high-paying Wall Street banking career in 2010 to devote his life to the FBI.
According to eyewitnesses, a number of FBI agents had gathered at the trendy Container Bar in Austin, Texas on Jul. 16 for a night of drinking and dancing. Late in the evening, Cincinelli allegedly turned a gun on himself and committed suicide in the middle of the crowded dance floor. The FBI has not commented on Cincinellis death.
The FBI agents on site instructed witnesses to delete any video and photographs they had of the evening and had the bar cleared out, reports say. Austin police were also reportedly instructed to remain silent on the details, and nightclub employees were told to stay offline and keep quiet about what they saw.
The New York Daily News reports that Cincinellis sister, Valerie Cincinelli, is currently awaiting trial in a murder-for-hire plot in New York City.
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Valerie, accused of plotting to kill her estranged husband and her boyfriends teen daughter, was a 12-year NYPD veteran when she was arrested two months ago in the twin murder schemes, The New York Daily News reported on Jul. 24. Her boyfriend John DiRubba ratted Cincinelli out to the FBI and cooperated with investigators in the sting operation that landed her in handcuffs.
Valerie was apparently very close to her brother, Sal.
She is absolutely devastated by the passing of her brother and best friend, and this is certainly adding to the stress of her current situation, defense lawyer James Kousouros told The New York Post.
Sal Cincinelli was a Supervisory Special Agent at the FBIs Complex Financial Crimes Unit at the time of his death.
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He was profiled by Reuters in 2012 as part of an article on FBI special agents that gave up lucrative careers in the financial sector to investigate financial misconduct.
Very very bright guy, one FBI insider told True Pundit. Such a young guy, it really gets you in the gut. He put in the hours too, was always working hard.