The Guardia di Finanza has arrested eight people and notified the prohibition of residence in the municipality of Palermo to two other accused, for various reasons, of mafia association, external competition in mafia association, money laundering and fraudulent transfer of values aggravated by mafia aiding.
The investigation, coordinated by the Palermo DDA led by the prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi, revealed the interests of the clans in the games and sports betting sector and revealed the complicities of some entrepreneurs who would have laundered the dirty money on behalf of the bosses. Over 40 million assets and assets seized.
Key figures of the investigation are the entrepreneur Francesco Paolo Maniscalco, previously convicted of mafia and exponent of the "family" of Palermo Center, and Salvatore Rubino who would have laundered the money on behalf of the clans. The investigators have reconstructed the way in which the gangs infiltrated the "legal" economy by controlling companies, managed secretly by their trusted men. Like Vincenzo Fiore and Christian Tortora who, by participating in public tenders, had obtained the state concessions issued by the Customs and Monopolies Agency for the collection of games and sports bets.
The clans of Porta Nuova and Pagliarelli would have allowed the expansion of the network of betting agencies and corners managed by companies close to the Mafia. The latter would have guaranteed the opening of centers controlled by the mafioso Salvatore Sorrentino. Behind the operation there was also the gang of Porta Nuova that re-used the money earned from investments in the agencies to keep the mafia affiliates detained and to have a "life annuity" for the family members of Nicolò Ingarao, boss murdered years ago.
Also involved in the deal are the "mandamenti" of Noce, Brancaccio, Santa Maria di Gesù and Belmonte Mezzagno and San Lorenzo, which would have given the go-ahead for the opening of betting centers in their territories. The economic operations would have been planned during the summit which would have also been attended by the top leaders of Pagliarelli's mandate: Settimo Mineo and Salvatore Sorrentino, arrested in recent months.
Over the years, thanks to their entrepreneurial skills and the advantages deriving from their "proximity" to the Mafia, the suspects would have acquired the availability of an increasing number of licenses and concessions for the exercise of the collection of bets, up to the creation of an economic empire made up of companies, formally registered as compliant nominees such as Antonino Maniscalco and Girolamo Di Marzo, which over time have managed to manage game volumes for around 100 million euros. In recent weeks, the investigated business group has purchased, in the Malaspina district, without the need for bank loans, a property used as the administrative office of one of the group companies, and a betting agency, both now seized.
"Striking the economic interests of Cosa Nostra must be a systematic and complementary action with respect to the traditional military-type conflict. The aim is to limit the criminal danger deriving from the reserves of illicit capital that can be used to restore the operation of the mafia structure affected by the arrests ". So Gianluca Angelini, commander of the Economic and Financial Operational Unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Palermo, comments on the operation that led to the arrest of 8 mobsters and revealed the economic interests of the Palermo gangs in the agencies that manage games and sports betting . A business estimated by investigators at 100 million euros per year. "The goal is to take away from the Mafia any economic benefit deriving from his criminal action. Today more than ever, to find Cosa Nostra, we must follow the money and the financial flows", he concludes.
