“Uncle Vincenzo,” implored the businessman, Angelo Salvatore, using a term of affection for the alleged head of Sicily’s Gimbellina crime family, 79-year-old Vincenzo Funari. According to a transcript of their wiretapped conversation, Salvatore continued: “For the love of our sons, renewable energy is important. . . .
It’s a business we can live on.”
[more inside]
posted by 445supermag
on Mar 1, 2013 -
15 comments
The Camorra Never Sleeps: "The Camorra is not an organization like the Mafia that can be separated from society, disciplined in court, or even quite defined. It is an amorphous grouping in Naples and its hinterlands of more than 100 autonomous clans and perhaps 10,000 immediate associates, along with a much larger population of dependents, clients, and friends. It is an understanding, a way of justice, a means of creating wealth and spreading it around. It has been a part of life in Naples for centuries—far longer than the fragile construct called Italy has even existed. At its strongest it has grown in recent years into a complete parallel world and, in many people’s minds, an alternative to the Italian government, whatever that term may mean."
[more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns
on Apr 10, 2012 -
29 comments
Current TV
previously & previously, the media company founded by Al Gore after the 2000 election, has picked up the kinds of in depth long form journalism being rapidly dropped by major networks, but has been tantalizingly unavailable for those without cable; until now. They have been putting their Vanguard episodes up on their website and on YouTube.
[more inside]
posted by Blasdelb
on Apr 30, 2011 -
24 comments
I asked Igari to help me deal with the fallout from the book. After much discussion, he and his two colleagues came up with a plan. His parting words were: “It’ll be a long battle. It’ll take money and courage, and you’ll have to come up with those on your own. But we’ll fight.”
On August 28th, his body was found in his vacation home in Manila, wrists slashed. Time of death unknown. It’s been ruled a suicide. Personally, I believe he was killed. I probably will never be able to prove it. [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu
on Nov 25, 2010 -
23 comments
Every person is assigned a role at the start of the
game. You are randomly sided with either the village, the mafia, or a third party. During the night, the mafia secretly meet and discuss to decide who they want to kill, while other power roles decide what to do. During the day, the village players must figure out who is not sided with the village and get rid of them.
[more inside]
posted by GooseOnTheLoose
on Jul 17, 2010 -
38 comments
About 8 years ago,
U.S. Representative James Traficant (D-Ohio) was sentenced to 8 years in jail for kickbacks, fraud, bribery, and racketeering. He was tightly connected with the Youngstown Ohio Mafia. At the time, he was only the second Congressman since the Civil War to be expelled by his peers from the institution in a vote of 420:1. The fascinating story of the Youngstown Mafia - and Traficant's rise and fall - is told by
David Grann (of
Lost City of Z and
The New Yorker) in a 2000 article called
"Crimetown, U.S.A.". Traficant was released from prison on September 2, 2009 to a hometown hero
welcome. On February 23, 2010, Traficant
announced he will running for Congress as an Independent.
posted by stbalbach
on Feb 23, 2010 -
44 comments
No one is drunk or under any narcotic influence, and yet all three men are moments away from what Fitzpatrick will later describe as "a mindfuck". A year on, Gibson concurs. "It left me with the sense that one of my basic anchors on reality had been ripped loose," he recalls. Wales still talks about the all-nighter with reverent awe:"It was amazing. It was a work of art. It was a thing of beauty."
It was, more specifically, a parlour game.
posted by empath
on Feb 14, 2010 -
85 comments
Italy
produced and sold at least 70 million litres of cheap wine containing acid, manure and fertiliser, Italian weekly L'Espresso said on Friday largely blaming organised crime in the south.
[more inside]
posted by preparat
on Apr 9, 2008 -
54 comments
"In a rebellion shaking the Sicilian Mafia to its centuries-old roots, businesses are joining forces in refusing to submit to demands for protection money called 'pizzo.' And they're getting away with it, threatening to sap an already weakened crime syndicate of one of its steadiest sources of revenue." The rebellion is fueled by a Web site "where businessmen are finding safety in numbers to say no to the mob." Called
Addiopizzo (
Goodbye Pizzo) "it brings together businesses in the Sicilian capital that are resisting extortion."
The campaign was launched in 2004 by a group of youths thinking of opening a pub. "They started off by plastering Palermo with anti-pizzo fliers, reading 'AN ENTIRE PEOPLE WHO PAYS THE PIZZO IS A PEOPLE WITHOUT DIGNITY,' and eventually brought their campaign online where it struck a profound chord with Sicilians fed up with Mafia bullying."
*
posted by ericb
on Jan 13, 2008 -
57 comments
In the peaceful Sicilian village of Salem, a dark presence is about to make itself known. For years, the family based crime organization known as the Mafia has been establishing itself in the foundation of the community. Until now, the naive citizens have been unaware of the evil among them. Tonight, however, the Mafia makes its move. Tonight, someone will die, and until the Mafia has eliminated all opposition, the innocent will continue to die. Unless, of course, the Mafia is destroyed(PDF) first...
posted by robocop is bleeding
on Mar 6, 2007 -
31 comments
Hitman.us is certainly a parody, offering, for a reasonable $20,000 fee, to remove the unwanted from your life. One of the rotating ads on the site, however, points to
bustoutdealer.com (registered under the
same name), which, with a fee
under $4,000, looks like it may be serious.
posted by nobody
on Jan 19, 2005 -
17 comments
Blowing Up Gotti. A weekly series from
The Smoking Gun featuring prison videotapes of John Gotti behind plexiglass talking to his kids and grandkids. Check out
Episode One: Grandpa Blows a Gasket (Quicktime required). Makes you think twice about your baseball career. (Via
Gawker).
posted by adrober
on Aug 18, 2004 -
19 comments
Finally, a Reason to Watch Court TV? An Olympics skating vote rigging Russian mafia fraud trial--what fun! Hope this happens, and I hope in happens in New York's Federal Southern District, because, well, what fun to bring down a stupid sport (And remove it from television); discredit the French, Russians... I want seats to this one! Or Perhaps E! will provide the coverage?
posted by ParisParamus
on Aug 2, 2002 -
14 comments
Mike Ovitz uncovers a sinister organization! He claims to be the latest victim of the "gay Mafia." By most accounts, he would also be the first. Is this simple bellyaching from a man who once dominated Hollywood? Or maybe, just maybe, we’re witnessing the birth of a new crime syndicate, and with it, fresh takes on the shopworn mob movies? LA Times link (sigh, registration req.)
posted by herc
on Jul 2, 2002 -
17 comments
UnificationChurch Under Siege in Brazil Rev. Moon's massive land purchases lead to major search-and-seizure operation. Money laundering and other no-no activities. This cult, the Avis to Scientology's Hertz, has paid President Bush I handsome money to speak in their behalf when they began operations in Brazil. They also own the Washington Times, Insight Magazine and many many other businesses, including a university, jewelry stores nationwide, and a ballet company. Their found, Rev. Moon, a convicted felon (taxes). Rumored to get money from Japanese mob to do their conservative activities, and now want to open car plant in China. Gone the days of merely selling roses.
posted by Postroad
on May 14, 2002 -
2 comments
The Maltesos. Well, there's no Webistics, and Big Pussy hasn't turned up floating down the Fox River, but here's your modern American mob family, suburban style. Betty Loren-Maltese, longtime mayor of the Town of Cicero, which abuts Chicago's West Side, has been indicted for looting the town's health insurance system to the tune of at least $10 million. The US Attorney says it is the largest dollar amount in any single organized crime investigation. [more inside]
posted by dhartung
on Jun 16, 2001 -
8 comments
John Salvati: not funny. Man imprissoned for 30 YEARS, known to be innocent by FBI, FBI kept him there b/c if the real perp was caught, dozens of informants would have been revealed. 30 years, gone, makes me sick feeling. There will be
more news on
this soon, I
hope.
posted by tomplus2
on May 3, 2001 -
9 comments
