Fourteen people in prison, one under house arrest, nine commercial activities in the Catania construction sector seized, 81 properties and land seized in two Sicilian provinces, as well as five vehicles, all for a total value of 12 million euros.
This is the balance sheet of the “Oleandro” anti-mafia operation carried out by over 100 agents of the Guardia di Finanza, on the orders of the Catania Prosecutor’s Office, in the provinces of Catania, Caltanissetta, Arezzo, Naples and Udine, against the “Picanello group” of the Santapaola-Ercolano mafia clan.
At the head there would be the ‘regents’ of the neighborhood gang, Carmelo ‘Melo’ Salemi, 65 years old, and Giuseppe Russo, 48 years old, known as ‘the journalist’ or ‘the elegant one’, who used a stable for meetings with his members.
The crimes included in the indictment are mafia association, usury, drug trafficking and money laundering.
One of the gang’s most profitable activities was the granting of loans at usurious rates, as part of a broader system of reinvestment of proceeds from drug trafficking, extortion and gambling.
The anti-mafia operation in Sicily involved several cities on the Italian island. Photo: EFEMafia threats
The suspects would also have used mafia methods to threaten the victims and ensure the payment of capital and interest.
The investigations reveal the mechanism used by the gangsters, which consisted of small loans, from 500 to 2,500 euros, to be repaid in weekly or monthly installments, with an interest rate that fluctuated between 140% and 350% per year.
One of the protagonists of these activities would be Nunzio Comis, 40 years old, son of boss Giovanni, arrested by the PEF Unit of the Financial Police of Catania in flagrante delicto in 2020 while received the payment of an installment of a usury loan from an entrepreneur.
According to the prosecution, the illicit money laundering was carried out by Fabrizio Giovanni Papa, 58 years old, an entrepreneur active in the construction sector, considered particularly close to the Picanello group and Carmelo Salemi.
According to the Catania Prosecutor’s Office, Papa would have made his companies available for the laundering of large sums of money deriving from the criminal activities of the clan, contributing to concealing their criminal origins, and allowing their reinvestment in economic or financial activities, essentially in construction, through the same companies.
Source: ANSA
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.