RECENT NEWS View older news  |2012-01-29|   Police arrests Bonanno acting boss On counts of extortion, racketeering, conspiracy, drug dealing and others police arrested 5 Staten Island men. Vincent Badalamenti, the 53 year old acting boss of the Bonanno family, and captain Nicholas Santora, who was recently released after being jailed 15 years, were amongst the arrested men. Others were acting captain Vito Balsamo, soldier Anthony Calabrese and Gambino associate James LaForte. One of the charges dates back to 1999, when Badalamenti ordered a hostile takeover of a Brooklyn bar after it's owner failed to pay a debt. If convicted each can face up to 20 years. (Source: gothamist.com, www.upi.com)  |2012-01-19|   Retired policeman commits suicide after being exposed as a Mafia Mol Yesterday police discovered the dead body of 33 year old Ian Davidson in a hotel room in Laval, Quebec. Davidson was a retired member of the Montreal police who according to Radio Canada had tried to sell a stolen list of informants to the Mafia for a 6-figure sum, but without success. He was only one of 3 men who got access to that list. His plans didn't went unnoticed and Tuesday he was informed that his name and intentions were going to be made public. In October 2011 he was already arrested once at the airport on suspicion of stealing sensitive police information, but was released again not much later. Davidson allegedly took his own life out of fear of a lengthy prison sentence. (Source: www.cbc.ca, m.theglobeandmail.com)  |2012-01-05|   Moreno Gallo deported to Italy After many efforts to fight for his stay in Canada, 66 year old mobster Moreno Gallo lost his battle against deportation and was escorted back yesterday to his native Italy. Gallo had entered Canada in 1954 where he would remain for the next 57 years, until now. He is considered to be a head of the Montreal based Rizzuto clan. (Source: newenglandorganizedcrime.com) 2011  |2011-12-26|   Is Jimmy Hoffa buried in the foundations of GM headquarters? Has one of America's most mysterious disappearances been solved? According to Jimmy Hoffa's former driver, Marvin Elkind, it has. In a new book by Adrian Humphreys he claims that Hoffa's body was buried in the cement foundations of the General Motors Headquarters in Detroit, a building which was constructed around that time. Jimmy Hoffa was the boss of the largest union in America, the Teamsters, and was known for having close ties to the Mafia. It was no secret that the Mafia was behind his disappearance, but since he went missing in 1975 the police has been unable to pin a suspect to the crime. Elkind said that mobsters Anthony Giacalone and Tony Provenzano were the ones who had him killed. During a Teamsters conference in 1985, Elkind, Giacalone and a couple of others were walking towards the GM building when Giacalone nodded toward the tower’s base and said, "Say good morning to Jimmy Hoffa, boys". Both Giacalone and Provenzano are long gone since then, but it could be a final breakthrough in this illusive 40 year old crime. (Source: www.dailymail.co.uk, www.nypost.com)  |2011-12-21|   Six men arrested for the murder of Salvatore Montagna The Canadian police has arrested 6 men for the murder of former Bonanno leader Salvatore Montagna, who was killed nearly 4 weeks ago. The prime suspect in the case is 59 year old Raynald Desjardins, noted to be a close associate of jailed Montreal boss Vito Rizzuto. His arrest in the case feeds speculations that the Bonanno family indeed had a hand in the recent attacks against the Rizzuto family. (Source: montreal.ctv.ca, www.calgarysun.com)  |2011-12-07|   Police arrests Casalesi boss Michele Zagaria Italian police has succeeded in the arrest of 53y old Michele Zagaria, the nr. 1 man of the Casalesi Clan. He was found hiding in an underground bunker underneath a house near the city of Naples. He has been on the run since 1995 and has been sentenced in absentia to 3 life sentences. After his arrest policemen all over Caserta celebrated. In May this year police also arrested Mario Caterino, another important Casalesi leader. The Casalesi Syndicate is conscidered to be the most dangerous Camorra clan in Italy and has an estimated annual turnover of €30 billion. (www.telegraph.co.uk, ww.ilpost.it)  |2011-11-26|   Body of Salvatore Montagna found in Repentigny, Montreal Last Thursday police discoverd the body of Salvatore Montagna in a river north of Montreal. His body was lying in snow on a small island near Repentigny. The 40 year old Montagna was born in Montreal but grew up in Sicily. At age 15 he moved to America where he became the acting boss of the Bonanno family. In 2009 however he was deported back to Canada after he refused to testify before a grand jury on illegal gambling. In Montreal he was believed to have been involved with the Rizzuto Family, which has been dealing with several murders eversince. (Source: www.huffingtonpost.ca, www.mirror.co.uk)  |2011-11-21|   Italy convicts 110 'Ndrangheta members after major trial A major trial against 119 suspected members of the 'Ndrangheta has come to an end last Saturday. The trial started about 5 months ago in Milan and has now resulted in the conviction of 110 people. 'Ndrangheta leaders Alessandro Manno and Cosimo Barranca, both active in the Milan area, received the most lengthy sentences being respectively 16 and 14 years. Another leader, Pasquale Zappia, was sentenced to 12 years. The trial marked an important victory in the fight against organized crime. (Source: www.ntn24.com, www.edmontonjournal.com)  |2011-11-03|   Nicodemo Scarfo Jr. arrested for extortion Nicodemo Scarfo Jr, son of former Philadelphia boss Nicodemo Scarfo Sr., was arrested Tuesday at his home on racketeering and fraud charges. With him another 12 men were charged. Police suspects the men of taking over a Texas based mortgage company, FirstPlus Financial Group Inc., through extortion. The scheme started in April 2007, not long after Scarfo Jr. was released from prison. Amongst the conspirators is also Texas attorney William Maxwell. One of their methods was to blame board members for frauding and threatened them with lawsuits. They eventually replaced them with one of their own. Other methods were a bit more direct, for example when Salvatore Pelullo threatened a board member by saying "If you ever rat, your wives will be f**ked… and your kids will be sold off as prostitutes.” The scheme alledgedly cost the company and it's shareholders about $12 million. Money which was used to support their lavish livestyle. Pullelo for example drove a Bentley and Scarfo had bought a yacht worth $850.000. The company itself has recently filled for bankruptcy. (Source: abcnews.go.com, www.pressofatlanticcity.com)  |2011-10-27|   Rizzuto associate murdered in St. Laurent Monday night 40 year old Lorenzo "Larry" LoPresti was shot and killed on the balcony of the first floor of a condo in St. Laurent, Montreal. LoPresti was associated with the Rizzuto family and was the son of Joe LoPresti, who was murdered in 1992. He grew up in "Mafia Row", a street in the upper class Saraguay district where several mobsters lived next to eachother. LoPresti was said to have been a drugtrafficker and was close to Agostino Cuntrera, who was also murdered last year. (Source: www.montrealgazette.com, www.globalmontreal.com)

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