Mafia News

$600M global money-laundering ring cracked

Nicolo (Nick) Rizzuto

MONTREAL - The long tentacles of the Montreal Mafia can travel well beyond prison walls, say Italian anti-Mafia police who have arrested at least a dozen people in a large-scale money-laundering operation based in Italy and allegedly orchestrated by Vito Rizzuto.

Among the people alleged to be involved in an attempt to launder more than $600 million in drug money is Rizzuto, 61, considered the head of the Montreal Mafia. He is currently serving a 10-year sentence in a Colorado penitentiary for participating in the 1981 murders of three men.

His father, Nicolo Rizzuto, 83, is also among those wanted by Italian authorities. The elder Rizzuto is currently being held at the Montreal detention centre awaiting a possible trial on charges of extortion, bookmaking, drug smuggling and exportation. He was arrested in Project Colisee, a joint police investigation that resulted in the November 2006 roundup of more than 90 people in Quebec.

Italian police on Tuesday also executed 40 search warrants and seized or froze assets estimated to be worth more than $200 million. Police in Canada, France and Switzerland assisted in the police operation. Bankers, businessmen and stockbrokers were among those arrested.

“We blocked a lot of bank accounts and money,” an Italian police investigator told the National Post. “We have seized many companies and hundreds of millions of euros all around the world because we believe that behind these companies is Vito Rizzuto.”

Among the 19 people in all who were either arrested or are reported to be named in warrants in Italy are Paolo Renda, 68, Francesco Arcadi, 54, and Rocco Sollecito, 59. All three are also currently behind bars and awaiting a possible trial on the same charges as Nicolo Rizzuto.

Cpl. Elaine Lavergne of the RCMP’s Montreal-based C-division said the Mounties assisted in the Italian police operation.

Those arrested in Italy Tuesday are expected to be charged with Mafia association, money laundering, insider trading, bond manipulation and stock market fraud. The charges stem from an investigation that began in 2005.

More than 250 police officers took part in the operation, which stretched across all regions of Italy.

According to Italian police, among those arrested in Italy was Felice Italiano, 61, a LaSalle businessman who was once linked to one of the biggest drug seizures ever made in Canada. In 1994, Italiano was arrested along with brothers Gerry and Richard Matticks — both reputed to be influential members of the West End Gang — after more than 26 tonnes of hashish was seized in Canada. The charges against Italiano and the others were eventually dismissed after a judge determined the Quebec provincial police fabricated evidence in the case.

Beniamino Zappia, an Italian man with close ties to the Rizzuto organization, was also among those arrested in Italy. Zappia was seen visiting Mafia members in Montreal as recently as May 2005. According to the book The Sixth Family — The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto, Zappia’s name came up in the past when members of the Rizzuto family were investigated for money laundering by Swiss authorities during the 1990s.

Another Italian arrested in the operation was businessman Mariano Turrisi, the president and founder of Made in Italy Inc., a company Turrisi recently described in an interview as a promotional vehicle for small- and medium-sized Italian companies looking to expand to international markets. According to the company’s website, Turrisi “has been working in all the markets of the world for 30 years.” The website describes Made in Italy Inc. as a company based in Rome with offices all over the world.

Antonio Nicaso, a Toronto-based author of several books on organized crime, said the latest investigation is further evidence of the international reach of the Rizzuto organization.

“The Italian police were able to identify the movement of money to invest the proceeds of narcotics businesses,” Nicaso said. “This shows the transnational nature of its organization. It’s a local organization with global ambition and global capability.”

Italian arrests tied to Montreal Mafia - Paul Cherry - Montreal Gazette; CanWest News Service - Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - The Edmonton Journal 2007 - http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=569b3014-67ed-4677-a087-f1d53a37df33

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