Messina Denaro: 30 years of hiding financed by 'ATM entrepreneurs'

In the list of Messina Denaro's probable "ATM" entrepreneurs there are many names, such as the online betting manager, Carlo Cattaneo. In the space of a few years, Cattaneo has transformed his betting business into a network of gaming outlets spread across Castelvetrano, the rest of the province of Trapani and Palermo. The credit for Cattaneo's entrepreneurial success seems to be due to the support of the super fugitive's favorite nephew, Francesco Guttadauro , but also to that of the boss's brother-in-law, Rosario Allegra . The investigations revealed that Cattaneo had repeatedly demonstrated his gratitude by delivering packs of banknotes to Allegra. Which is why, a few years ago, the entrepreneur from Castelvetrano was arrested on charges of external complicity in a mafia association. As Messina Denaro himself admitted during the first interrogation, the accomplices who helped him during his fugitive are numerous. From the investigations that have been carried out over the years, many code names have emerged. The name Parmigiano, for example, has been found in numerous pizzini, or that of Fragolone, Fragolina, Condor, Ciliegia, Reparto, Malato, Complicato and Mela.

Shooting in the Villaggio Mose neighbourhood, in Agrigento . Three armed men showed up at the entrance of a dealership in what, according to an initial reconstruction, should have been an attack against the owner.
According to what we learn, the three men showed up, weapons in hand, in the car park of the "AutoXpassione" dealership managed by Lillo Zambuto from Agrigento. The target of the ambush, in all likelihood, should have been the latter.
The result was a fight with the trader, who was then injured in the melee with the attackers, culminating in the explosion of shots. One of the three attackers died while the other two managed to escape. This is Roberto Di Falco, 38 years old, from Palma di Montechiaro. The other two men, however, would have fled in a car. Research is still ongoing.

Owner also had two of his children with him at the moment of attack, wondering if he is connected to local mafia in Agrigento.

Zambuto is on facebook. Seems he's a BMW dealer.

https://m.facebook.com/people/Lillo-Zambuto/100078699176877/

The small island of Malta is home to almost 300 invisible casinos. If each had a bricks-and-mortar presence, the country would be knee-deep in gamblers. But it’s not. There are just four physical gaming establishments, and fewer visible bookmakers than in Italy or Spain.

How Maltese Online Gambling Became an ATM for the Italian Mafia

https://www.occrp.org/en/thedaphnep...ling-became-an-atm-for-the-italian-mafia

Gaetano Riina, brother of super boss Totò, dead at 90: funeral banned
Written by PL Editorial Team February 24, 2024



Gaetano Riina, brother of the super boss Totò, has died at the age of 90 . The death occurred on Thursday. Yesterday, specifically, he was buried in the cemetery of Mazara del Vallo, in the Trapani area. Trapani police commissioner Salvatore La Rosa has banned public funerals.

Even the route that the hearse had to follow to reach the cemetery was established. There, near Mazara del Vallo, a quick burial took place at 8pm. Only the closest relatives were present at the ceremony.

Read also: Via d'Amelio massacre, the revelations of the repentant: "We had to kill La Barbera"
Who was Gaeteano Riina
Totò Riina's brother ended up in prison only in 2011, with a clean criminal record and over 75 years old, serving a sentence for mafia and subsequently a sentence for illicit competition aggravated by having facilitated Cosa Nostra. Brother Riina, after finishing his sentence, was subjected to special surveillance.

He spent the last years of his detention under house arrest due to serious health problems. It was the Surveillance Court of Turin that granted him the measure in 2021. The concession occurred after several rejected requests and after the brother of the boss of bosses, with various health problems, had also had Covid.

Old report about Gaetano Riina and Messina Denaro.

Gaetano Riina: A Reserved Farewell for the Man Linked to the History of the Mafia
The death of Gaetano Riina marked the end of a life marked by family ties to organized crime. His private funeral, characterized by the exclusive presence of his closest relatives, closed a controversial chapter linked to the history of the mafia in Sicily.

The discreet farewell to Gaetano Riina represents a moment of reflection on the complex network of relationships and influences linked to the world of crime.

His figure, despite being in the shadow of his better-known brother, left an indelible mark on the criminal history of the island, arousing interest and questions about his personal story.

The Prosecutor's Office: "The hands of Cosa Nostra on the food trade of Genoa". Finance finds three million in cash between Liguria and Sicily

In handcuffs, among others, Salvatore Vetrano, considered the "king of frozen foods" in Palermo near Cosa Nostra, the only one to whom the aggravating circumstance of 416 bis is contested, and Mauro Castellani, who manages two companies in the Ligurian capital

Five people arrested and one, Salvatore Vetrano , the Genoa Prosecutor's Office denies having acted to favor Cosa Nostra. Because the trafficking of the man considered "the king of frozen foods" in Palermo, at least according to the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of the Ligurian capital, reached as far as the Lanterna: the investigation carried out by the provincial command and by the Scico of the Guardia di Finanza counts in all twelve suspects.

Among these, the five arrested in addition to Vetrano are his wife Anna Bruno , two people resident in Sicily ( Sebastiana Germano and Giuseppe Licata ) and the man who, according to the prosecution, is the "connection" with Liguria and then with abroad , where he allegedly transferred money resulting from tax fraud.

His name is Mauro Castellani and he is the owner of the individual company of the same name, as well as holding the role of administrator of the Liguria Surgelati srl , based in Corte Lambruschini, right in the city centre. Vetrano, Bruno and Castellani himself ended up in prison, Germano and Licata under house arrest.

The five are accused in various capacities of criminal association, fraudulent transfer of valuables, self-laundering, failure to pay VAT and other tax crimes. Vetrano alone is also accused of the aggravating mafia charge of 416 bis.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, Vetrano was the man behind a very long series of companies, all connected to each other, which allowed him to manage between 2015 and 2021 a business based on the importation of frozen fish products from Spain and Portugal to Italy .

In this chain, again for prosecutors Federico Manotti and Giancarlo Vona , Mauro Castellani's individual company and Liguria Surgelati were the final link: they actually purchased products formally imported from "ghost" companies and sold them to customers in the area.

Mafia murder at Sperone: Brancaccio's emerging boss killed

PALERMO – It was a mafia crime. The mafia aggravating circumstance is contested, in fact, in all the crimes culminating in the murder of Giancarlo Romano and the wounding of Alessio Caruso. The prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia and his deputies Enrico Bologna and Francesca Mazzocco ordered the arrest of three suspects: Camillo and Antonio Mira, father and son, and Caruso himself. What the men of the flying squad define as "two criminal groups" faced each other.

The spotlight had been on all the protagonists for some time. Romano is referred to as "a rising star in Brancaccio's mafia scene". In the past he had been alongside the boss Antonino Lo Nigro . After the arrest of the latter in the "Tentacles" blitz two years ago, Romano would have effectively taken Lo Nigro's place in the management of extortion, drug dealing and clandestine betting. And it is precisely in this last area that the clash that led to the crime took place.

According to the reconstruction of the investigators, Lo Nigro together with Caruso, who in the past was convicted of extortion and robbery, went to claim the percentage of the clandestine bets managed by the Mira. The first clash apparently took place in front of an agency in Corso dei Mille. Camillo Mira would have pulled out his gun to shoot at Caruso, who would have anticipated him, wounding him. Shortly afterwards he takes revenge with the Mira who go hunting for his adversaries. Another firefight ensues. The ones who get the worst of it are Romano, who remains lifeless on the asphalt, and Caruso who ends up in hospital. Camillo Mira is under investigation for murder, both for the attempted murder of Caruso who in turn is charged with attempted murder and extortion. All hypotheses aggravated by the mafia method.

Giancarlo Romano

Vast anti-drug operation in Palermo, eight arrests and 25kg of narcotic substances seized
Written by PL Editorial Team February 29, 2024

Vast anti-drug operation by the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Palermo throughout the city. Numerous seizures involving over 25 kilograms of narcotics and 6 people in handcuffs. From the Mediterranean Fair, to Zen, passing through the Villaggio Santa Rosalia, Albergheria, Villagrazia di Palermo, Guadagna and Aquino, these are the areas affected by the operation against the dealing and possession of narcotic substances carried out by the military.

Extortion, nine years requested for Cosa Nostra boss Turi Ercolano
He was among those condemned at the maxi trial
MAFIA
by CT Editorial Staff
1 MINUTE READ
FEBRUARY 29, 2024, 5.42PM

CATANIA – During the Palermo maxi-trial he became famous by stitching his mouth with a stapler in protest against the repentants . Today the 74-year-old Salvatore Ercolano known as Turi, former historical exponent of Cosa Nostra, is accused in Turin for an extortion affair: according to the accusation, between 2018 and 2019, together with accomplices, he offered protection to the owner of a car wash in exchange of money. The prosecutor's office in the Piedmontese capital requested nine years' imprisonment for him.

The trial of Turi Herculaneum
Ercolano, cousin of the boss Nitto Santapaola , was among those convicted in the maxi-trial. In Turin he was freed after spending several decades in prison. In this new trial, where he is defended by the lawyer Salvo Lo Greco, he is also accused of mafia-type association.

For a second defendant , who must answer for a violation of the law on weapons (he is assisted by the lawyer Domenico Peila), the prosecutor Paolo Toso asked for his acquittal. The ruling is expected in the coming weeks.

Sicilian Crackdown: Ex-Regional Executive Among 12 Arrested for Mafia Vote-Buying, Extortion

Authorities in Sicily have arrested 12 individuals, targeting the 'Nardo' Mafia clan's involvement in crimes, marking a significant operation against organized crime.

https://bnnbreaking.com/politics/si...arrested-for-mafia-vote-buying-extortion

Mafia: attack on Brancaccio’s Palermo clan, 8 arrests

https://news.italy24.press/trends/1314907.html

Attack on the Trabia district, 19 arrests in the Palermo area

https://news.italy24.press/trends/1317347.html

Palermo Mafia, police raid begins with 19 arrests – Names

PALERMO – This time it's the turn of the mafia in the province of Palermo to suffer a severe blow. Nineteen people were arrested in a raid by the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command. The Trabia mafia mandamento was hit, which includes the families of Termini Imerese, Caccamo, Trabia, Vicari and Cerda–Sciara.

Anti-mafia blitz, the crimes contested

These are the crimes contested: mafia association, extortion, damage followed by fire, personal injury, threats, fire, illegal possession and carrying of firearms, fraudulent transfer of valuables, home burglary, personal aiding and abetting, disturbed freedom of auctions, committed with the aggravating circumstance of the mafia method.

The organizational chart of the mandamento has been reconstructed

The provision arises from an investigative activity conducted by the territorial department of the Carabinieri of Termini Imerese from 2015 to 2022, to monitor the Trabia mafia district. Extortion cases against traders and entrepreneurs have been reconstructed. The organizational chart of the Trabia mafia mandamento and the families connected to it has been redefined, identifying top management and regents, to prevent its reorganization.

The names of those arrested

Here are the names of those arrested: Massimo Andolina (Petralia Sottana, 48 years old); Tommaso Consiglio (Palermo, 52 years old); Biagio Esposto Sumadele (Palermo, 46 ??years old); Pietro Erco (Torre del Greco, 60 years old); Giuseppe Galbo (Sciara, 65 years old); Giuseppe Lo Bianco (Palermo, 32 years old); Salvatore Macaluso (Vicari, 59 years old); Salvatore Mario Monastero (Caccamo, 68 years old); Pietro Passafiume (Termini Imerese, 34 years old); Antonio Luigi Piraino (Cerda, 63 years old); Gaetano Pravatà (Palermo, 51 years old); Ignazio Saccio (Vicari, 56 years old); Rosario Saccio (Vicari, 55 years old); Francesco Sampognaro (Caccamo, 58 years old); Calogero Sinagra (Sciara, 66 years old); Antonino Teresi (Sciara, 62 years old); Francesco Turturici (Trabia, 67 years old); Carmelo Umina (Vicari, 62 years old); Massimiliano Vallone (Palermo, 46 ??years old).

Palermo: boss Giuseppe Autieri, on the run for two years, arrested ! Giuseppe Autieri, 50, is a man of honor in the Porta Nuova mafia district, the richest Mafia district in Palermo. A pentito recently linked him to top fugitive Giovanni Motisi.

So Motisi is alive ?

He is at the top of Italy's most wanted fugitives list, so authorities consider him alive.

Mafia, blitz against Borgata clan in Syracuse: 6 arrests

(LaPresse) The Syracuse Police have arrested four people accused of mafia association and illegal possession of weapons. During the operation, searches were also carried out which allowed the arrest of two other individuals - believed to be close to the organization - for illegal possession of weapons and drugs. The measures constitute the outcome of an investigation coordinated by the DDA of Catania and conducted by the investigative section of the Central Operational Service of Catania and the Flying Squad of Syracuse. The investigations have shed light on the reorganization of the so-called Borgata mafia group, active in the city of Syracuse and considered a satellite clan of the mafia association called Bottaro-Attanasio. The investigations have documented the criminal escalation, implemented through the indiscriminate use of weapons.

«Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta and Camorra, an integrated mafia criminal system»

The words of magistrate Nino Di Matteo, now deputy to the national anti-mafia directorate

«The most notable ability of the mafia and in particular of Cosa Nostra is that of shedding its skin like a snake. To know how to change strategies depending on the political and social contingencies of the country." And again: «The mafias are no longer a phenomenon limited to Sicily and the regions of Southern Italy but we have witnessed an expansion of organized crime both from a territorial point of view , throughout the national and European territory, and from the point of view of entrepreneurial and financial power". Antonino "Nino" Di Matteo , 60 years old, now substitute at the national anti-mafia directorate after an experience in the CSM, explained it in an interview given to "Il Secolo XIX" . Di Matteo is the magistrate who tried generals and politicians in Palermo for the State-Mafia negotiation, and also investigated the massacres in which judges Falcone and Borsellino lost their lives.

«Integrated criminal system»
"I can say that there is more and more evidence of how dirty capital, the result of criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, is reused and recycled by Cosa Nostra in apparently legitimate activities" , Nino Di Matteo further explained to the Genoese newspaper . Recent anti-mafia investigations have revealed the increasingly close link between 'Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra. «Although we cannot go into the details of the investigations, forms of collaboration and synergy between the various mafias present in the area are increasingly emerging. Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta and sectors of the Camorra must not be considered as distinct entities but as part of an integrated mafia criminal system" . Finally, according to Antonio Di Matteo, «distinctions last as long as they find them. It is necessary to understand that the phenomenon must be fought systematically, starting from the fact that mafia organizations work together as a single entity."

Murder of trade unionist Mico Geraci, two Trabia bosses arrested. The prosecutor's office: they are the principals
Luca Grossi 06 March 2024
More than 25 years after the murder of trade unionist Mico Geraci (pictured) , which occurred on 8 October 1998, the Palermo prosecutor's office has identified who commissioned and planned the murder, on behalf of the boss Bernardo Provenzano .

https://www.antimafiaduemila.com/ho...i-trabia-la-procura-sono-i-mandanti.html

Mafia: supplied cars to fugitives, assets worth 26 million confiscated

Gdf seals after the conviction of the entrepreneur Rosario Castello


Assets worth 26 million euros were confiscated by the Palermo Financial Police from Rosario Castello, 72 years old, an entrepreneur in the luxury car sector, definitively convicted of external complicity in a mafia association. The provision was issued by the prevention measures section, at the request of the DDA.
The entrepreneur would have procured "clean" cars used by fugitives from the Palermo district of Brancaccio, including Lorenzo Tinnirello and Cristofaro Cannella.

He would have made safe places available where confidential meetings could be organized between men of honor and finally he would have invested money coming from the boss Antonino Spadaro. The Gico investigations would have revealed a clear disproportion between the declared incomes and the assets available to the entrepreneur and his family unit. Castello was responsible for commercial activities carried out in close combination of interests with Cosa Nostra and real estate purchased with the revenues deriving from his businesses. The seizure began in 2014 and now 3 companies and their share capital have been confiscated; 4 commercial buildings; 2 prestigious villas; 15 banking and financial reports. Castello Immobiliare with headquarters in via Terrasanta, in Palermo, was confiscated.
The two Zeus Car offices, one in via Messina Marine and one in viale Regione Siciliana. Two villas in viale Regione Siciliana and 3 commercial buildings in Villabate (PA), in via Pomara, via Giulio Cesare and via Walter Tobagi and a commercial building in Palermo in via Regione Siciliana.

Mafia, police raid in the Agrigento area: seven arrests

Anti-mafia blitz in the Agrigento area. The Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Agrigento, at the first light of dawn, carried out 7 precautionary measures as part of an investigation coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Palermo. The mafia families of Lucca Sicula, Burgio, Ribera and Favara were hit. Among those arrested are the leaders of the district and the local mafia family of Burgio and Lucca Sicula.

The precautionary order measures were issued by the investigating judge at the Court of Palermo at the request of the local Public Prosecutor's Office - District Anti-Mafia Directorate -, against 7 suspects (of which 4 in prison, 2 under house arrest and 1 under residence obligation), seriously suspected, in various capacities, of being part of the mafia association called "Cosa Nostra" and, in particular, of the mafia district of Lucca Sicula and Ribera.

The investigative activity, directed by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Palermo and conducted by the Investigative Unit of the Provincial Command of Agrigento, with the aid of technical activities, in the period between April 2021 and July 2023, originates from the investigations launched following the murder of Vincenzo Corvo which occurred in April 2020 and for which the perpetrators have not yet been identified.

However, the aforementioned activity made it possible to highlight the full operation of the association, documenting numerous meetings aimed at directly and indirectly acquiring the management and control of economic activities, contracts and public services, to achieve unfair profits and advantages, intervening on local administrations.

Can you post the links with these?

Mafia, maxi-police operation in Caltanissetta province: 55 arrests

(LaPresse) The Caltanissetta State Police has arrested 55 people accused of mafia-type association, fictitious registration of goods, extortion and drug trafficking. Crimes aggravated by the availability, among the associates, of weapons (including weapons of war) and explosives. The application order of the personal precautionary detention measure was issued by the investigating judge at the Court of Caltanissetta, during the preliminary investigations, at the request of the local District Anti-Mafia Directorate of the Public Prosecutor's Office. 500 police officers intervened in the field. The District Anti-Mafia Directorate of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Caltanissetta has also ordered the search of all the suspects and the places available to search for weapons and drugs. The operation was against the Rinzivillo and Emmanuello Cosa Nostra families based in the town of Gela.

'Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra, the affairs between the clans of Polistena and those of Gela: maxiblitz in Sicily

A total of 55 people were arrested in the raid by the State Police under the direction of the Caltanissetta DDA. Three in the province of Reggio Calabria

This morning the State Police carried out the precautionary detention measure issued by the investigating judge of Caltanissetta at the request of the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Caltanissetta, against 55 subjects mainly from Gela (32 people) as well as 4 subjects from Catania, 4 subjects from Palermo, 12 from the province of Agrigento and 3 from the province of Reggio Calabria , for the crimes of mafia-style criminal association, fictitious registration of goods, extortion and drug trafficking. Crimes aggravated by the availability, among the associates, of weapons (including weapons of war) and explosives.

The investigations

The investigations begun at the end of 2018 made it possible to trace the operational lines of Cosa Nostra in the Gela area, once again clarifying the full operation of the two groups that animate the aforementioned mafia consortium in the territory, namely the Rinzivillo group and the Emmanuello group ( hence the name of the operation “Ianus” , one of the most ancient divinities, usually depicted with two faces, the so-called Two-Faced Janus, precisely to underline the two faces of Cosa Nostra). The investigative activity of the policemen of the Flying Squad, of the SISCO Caltanissetta and of the Gela PS police station - has allowed the emergence of serious clues also regarding the huge investments of the Cosa Nostra mafia organization operating in Gela in the construction of greenhouses aimed at cultivation of marijuana. At the same time, he would have used this type of drug as a bargaining chip to obtain other types of narcotic substances such as cocaine from criminal organizations in Reggio and Catania.


Ties with the 'Ndrangheta

Among the Gelese Cosa Nostra groups and the subjects linked to the Calabrian 'ndrangheta and, in particular, to the 'ndrina Longo of Polistena , as well as with exponents of Catania organized crime, drug trafficking took the form of the Gelese people in the importation of large quantities of cocaine and hashish and in the export of narcotic substances such as marijuana. This was reconstructed on the basis of investigative emergencies taken from the content of the wiretaps of conversations between today's suspects and was confirmed in numerous seizures of marijuana whose total quantity stands at approximately 1000 kg of marijuana-type narcotic; furthermore, according to an estimate made by the suspects themselves during the conversations recorded, the weekly quantity of narcotic substance placed on the market was around 1 or 2 kg of cocaine, resulting in substantial profits amounting to millions of euros.

The "stidda"

The investigation also shed light on the relationships between Cosa Nostra and the other mafia organization operating in Gela and in particular the Stidda, recording some meetings between the respective leaders. During the investigative activity, the availability of weapons and explosives by the associates emerged. In order to avoid the occurrence of serious crimes, one of the suspects was arrested, as he was found in possession of a rudimentary device, which the State Police bomb squad, who promptly intervened, detonated in complete safety. The presumed dangerousness of some of the suspects, as well as from the possession of weapons, also emerged from the content of the conversations captured. In addition to the precautionary measures, the State Police proceeded with the preventive seizure of a villa with swimming pool located in Gela and a large-engined car, assets attributable to some of the suspects.

55 arrests that's a pretty big bust m2w. So the notorious Rinzivillo and Emmanuello clans are still alive and kicking.
Images of the "summit" between Gelesi and Catania