In Cesenate, a subsidiary of the mafia association ‘Società foggiana’: an arrest

The maxi-operation of the Ros de Bari carabinieri also touched the territory of Cesena, which interrupted a battery of the mafia association ‘Società Foggiana’, which has its headquarters in Foggia and the province. With the ‘Grande Carro’ operation, 48 people ended up affected by precautionary measures, investigated in various capacities for mafia association, money laundering, extortion, illegal competition with threats or violence, kidnapping for extortion purposes, illegal possession of weapons. / explosives, scams to obtain public funds (also with reference to EU funds) and other crimes, all aggravated by having facilitated the activities of a mafia organization. One of the detainees was arrested Tuesday morning by the Cesena police and taken to prison, a 50-year-old man from Mercato Saraceno.

VIDEO – The operation of the carabinieri

A far-reaching operation, the measures of which are derived from an investigation initiated by the Ros that, after the capture of the fugitive Francesco Russo in Romania, focused on the criminal dynamics attributable to the “Sinesi-Francavilla” battery of the The Foggia company, a mafia organization that developed at the end of the 1980s in the province of Foggia, whose existence has been judicially proven by numerous judgmentsor. Structured in ‘batteries’, over the years, the association has experienced a phenomenon of criminal modernization that has led it to advance towards a more advanced model of’business mafia ‘.

The complex investigations, which for a long time have involved the District Attorney’s Office and the different branches of the Ros present in the national territory, have allowed us to document the existence and operation of an active battery joint in Foggia, Orta Nova, Ascoli Satriano and Cerignola. with interests in Rimini and Alta Irpinia, as well as Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic, and the provinces of Avellino, Bari, Brescia, Brindisi, Chieti, Foggia, Forlì Cesena, Imperia, Lecce, Naples, Salerno and Teramo were also mentioned. The investigations reveal the roles and functions of the affiliates within the clique, responding to Francesco Delli Carri, historical exponent of the Foggia Society and his brother Donato. In this context, the figures of Aldo Delli Carri, a cousin of Francesco and Donato, also emerged, engaged in the reinvestment of illicit income in the real estate sector and in scams due to the improper collection of contributions for agriculture disbursed by the European Union and the region. Puglia. In addition, it was possible to rebuild Delli Carri’s relationships with crime exponents from Gargano and Canosa di Puglia, thanks to which they were able to carry out their illegal activities in those areas.

From the point of view of criminal activities, strong extortionary pressure has arisen by the association against agricultural companies, transport companies and funeral homes, companies active in the construction of wind farms and in the alternative energy sector.and that, as a consequence of the systematic intimidation, they were forced to pay percentages on the income / works obtained, as well as to subcontract the execution of employment contracts, services and supplies to companies linked to the association, or orders already obtained. In addition, it was found the traceability of a number of companies operating in the construction, earthmoving, transport, catering and gaming sectors (the latter located in Emilia Romagna), up to the battery who, through nominees, established a company ex novo or infiltrated existing corporate structures. In this context, the reinvestment of illicit funds in the purchase of a real estate complex located in Prague, worth more than half a million euros, was also verified.

Of particular importance is the subsequent part of the investigation carried out in synergy by the Department of Agroalimentare de Protección Ros y Carabinieri de Salerno, under the direction of the Bari District Prosecutor’s Office, which made it possible to identify a complex and sophisticated system of scams targeting the misperception of funds for agriculture from the European Union. The investigations carried out in the specific area have revealed how the suspects, even with the connivance of some submissive public officials, managed to unduly collect, between 2013 and 2018, contributions totaling 13.5 million euros, transmitted to through the so-called ‘PIF – integrated supply chain projects’. During the operation, the Salerno Ros and Carabinieri Agri-Food Protection Department executed two seizure orders: preventive of movable and immovable property against 6 suspects, for an approximate value of 3 million euros; and a second seizure for 13 million euros, against the suspects involved in the fraud against the European Union, as a quantification of the benefit of the crimes found in the specific sector.

At the international level, the investigations used the coordination of Eurojust, which favored the connection with foreign judicial authorities to rebuild the transnational activities of the association, and the contribution of the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) based in Brussels . , an EU body in charge of identifying and combating fraud and any other form of infringement to the detriment of European Union funds, which provided significant evidence on economic transactions related to disbursements from the European Fund for Rural Agricultural Development (Feasr) . Today’s operation constitutes a further progression of the investigative and judicial maneuver aimed at countering the activities of the mafia in the Foggia area.