Mafia, blow to the Laudani and Santapaola clans: 18 NAME arrests

CATANIA – Mafia, maxi operation of the Guardia di Finanza. Eighteen arrested for belonging to the Santapaola and Laudani clans.

The investigations

It’s called “Informe”, the operation that more than 100 funders are carrying out with the collaboration of Scico. The investigating judge issued an order of precautionary measures against 18 people.

Accuses him

In various ways, detainees are accused of criminal association of the mafia type, extortion, usury, bid rigging, personal assistance and complicity, possession and carrying of firearms.

In total, the suspects are 37, considered “belonging to however traceable ai Laudani Mafia Clan me Santapaola “.

The million dollar kidnapping

At the same time, the preventive seizure was carried out, for a total value of one million euros, of the shares and corporate assets of “FRISCUS srl”, a company that operates in the transport logistics sector, whose property was registered fictitiously on behalf of a figurehead of the clan, in order to avoid asset assessments.

The “pizzini” system

The complex investigative activity, carried out by the Catania Economic-Financial Police Unit, involved 37 subjects and was called “Report”, in reference to the orders that Orazio Scuto (alias “The glazier”) – regent of the “clan Laudani ”for the Acese territory and detained in Caltanissetta – he handed over to his associates through“ pizzini ”hidden in the packages of fruit juices or chocolate bars and which were taken from the prison thanks to the help of Valentina Scuto. The proven communication system has enabled Scuto Orazio to issue directives to its closest external collaborators, both in relation to the management of FRISCUS Srl, and in relation to some initiatives to be undertaken in the context of criminal activities attributable to the group. .

Extortion and brokerage

In particular, researchers from the PEF Nucleus of Catania have rebuilt, first, the network of illicit interests of the “Laudani clan”, active in extortion and with interests in the sector related to bankruptcy proceedings.

In detail, in the course of investigations, first of all, 8 episodes of extortion, in some cases implemented by members of the clan to the detriment of businessmen and professionals to finance the association while, in other circumstances, the members of the criminal association acted to unlawfully favor businessmen, who in the face of unpaid commercial credits preferred, instead of proceeding legally, to resort to the intermediation of exponents gangsters to recover the sums, using the force of intimidation linked to the latter’s membership of the criminal organization and in order to speed up the credit collection procedure.

Judicial auctions

The other sector involved in investigative activities, according to Gico’s press release, is that represented by interference in judicial procedures for the auction of assets. In this context, individuals belonging to or close to the Laudani clan intervened, on several occasions, so that businessmen declared bankrupt – against whom the real estate foreclosure procedure had been activated – could illegally recover the property put up for auction, obtaining a profit. In this context, exponents of the “clan Laudani ”acted, resorting to threats and intimidation, to inhibit the participation of potential bidders in the execution procedure, thus guaranteeing the debtor to obtain, even through fictitious owners, the return of the assets.

The case

One of the episodes under investigation by the Gico concerned a real estate auction proceeding carried out in the Catania Court. On this occasion, a businessman, owner of an apartment subject to bankruptcy, requested and obtained the intervention of Litterio “Rino” Messina, in order to alter the procedure for the sale of the property. On that occasion, the group identified a compliant front man and, at the same time, fired potential bidders through the use of intimidation and threats. At the same time, the conduct of subjects belonging to the Laudani clan was also revealed, through which the buyers of the foreclosed property were forced with threats to resell the property, at a base price, to the foreclosed debtor who had requested and obtained the intervention. of the first

The “surveillance” in the works

During the investigations, other crimes committed by exponents of the “Santapaola clan” against Catania businessmen were also highlighted. In particular, the investigations highlighted a first exorbitant conduct in which Salvatore Mazzaglia and Mirko Pompeo Casesa, demanded from businessmen active in the territory of Catania and the province, the payment of a periodic sum of money to guarantee the safety of the works. .

Weapons

Finally, the investigations revealed an important availability of weapons of the members of the mafia organization, which were used in violent episodes and intimidation. Of particular importance, in this context, was the figure of Giacomo Cageggi (alias “The boxer” or “Rocky”), a reference to the “Laudani clan” for Lineri and Misterbianco, several times the protagonist of punitive armed expeditions and intimidation against rival clans.

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