On suspicion of laundering substantial amounts of money from the mafia clans of the city with the assistance of compliant businessmen and financial specialists, eleven individuals were apprehended in Palermo, with five of them being placed under house arrest. In the investigation, which also resulted in 12 guarantee notices, historical figures of the Salemi mafia in the province of Trapani, who were loyal allies of the boss Matteo Messina Denaro, were accused of laundering millions of euros and forming a solid alliance with the Calabrian 'ndrine. The suspects face charges of mafia, money laundering, auction rigging, illegal transfers of valuables, and receiving stolen goods. Angelo Salvatore, mafia boss of Salemi who has already been convicted of mafia association, is one of the key figures in the investigation by the carabinieri of the Investigative Unit of Trapani. According to investigators, Salvatore would have managed Matteo Messina Denaro's renewable energy investments for years. After being released from prison in 2019, he went back into business with the help of his son Andrea. The two, thanks to their abilities to attract professionals in the area and unlawfully infiltrate bank computer systems, had assembled a criminal network capable of laundering large sums of money from Palermo gangs.
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