The mafia and the business of luxury watches sold to VIPs and footballers: 12 arrests between Palermo and Milan

The investments of Cosa Nostra in the black market for luxury watches to be sold to celebrities and footballers who are unaware of everything . The Special Currency Police Unit of the Finance Police has carried out a precautionary custody order against 15 people and a preventive seizure , issued by the investigating judge of Palermo, at the request of the District Anti-Mafia Directorate. One of the suspects ended up in prison, 11 under house arrest and 3 were notified of the ban on expatriation and the obligation to report to the judicial police.

The investigation, to which the new justice collaborator Gaetano Fontana contributed, is the continuation of an operation last May that hit the Fontana mafia clan and which led to 90 arrests for mafia association, extortion, drug trafficking, transfer fraudulent assets, money laundering, reuse of illicit capital, illegal gaming and betting.

The investigation concluded today has ascertained serious indications against some members of the Fontana family , historically hegemonic in the Palermo neighborhoods of Acquasanta and Arenella of the Resuttana mafia district and partly moved to Milan.

According to the investigators, the suspects, for various reasons, would have reinvested huge financial resources (coming from the crimes committed in the Palermo area) in the business of the "black" trade of luxury watches , destined for wealthy customers, carrying out financial transactions also with foreign countries , thanks to a dense network of business relationships with compliant operators in the sector ("buying gold" shops in London, Milan, Rome and Palermo).

Among the customers there are also some footballers such as Marco Borriello and Andrea Rispoli, and the VIP agent Lele Mora . None of the customers are investigated.

The suspects are charged, for various reasons, with the crimes of aiding and abetting, money laundering, self-laundering, with the aggravating circumstance of the transnational crime and of having favored "Cosa Nostra". The seizure of the assets and the business complex of a jewelry store in Milan and a gold purchase in Palermo and financial contributions for 2.6 million euros were carried out.

Operations are underway in Sicily, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany and Friuli Venezia Giulia, with the support of the PEF Units of Milan, Turin, Palermo, Pordenone and Grosseto.