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Illegal gambling, part two. With a financial police operation today 15 people were arrested, six in prison and nine under house arrest, and six agencies hijacked.
The survey has highlighted the role of Salvatore Rubino, a rising entrepreneur, considered the king of gambling. For him it is the second measure in a few months. At the beginning of June, in fact, he was arrested on charges of external competition in the mafia association, because behind his business promotion there would be capital belonging to the bosses. New investigations indicate that the leadership of two organizations has run a vast round of illegal gambling within seemingly healthy agencies.
The precautionary measures in prison carried out by delegation of the Public Ministry – District Antimafia Directorate – Palermo Section, coordinated by the deputy prosecutor Salvatore De Luca, refer to Salvatore Rubino (59 years old), but also to Vincenzo Fiore (42 years old), Christian Tortora (44 years old). , Rosario Chianello (48 years old), Michelangelo Guarino (43 years old) and Giovanni Di Noto (46 years old).
Salvatore Barrale (53 years old), Maurizio Di Bella (46 years old), Pasquale Somma (50 years old), Giovanni Castagnetta (36 years old), Davide Catalano (41 years old), Giacomo Bilello (34 years old), Pietro Montalto (31 years old) , Antonio Inserra (55 years old) and Salvatore Lombardo (34 years old).
The various charges against the suspects are criminal association directed at the illegal exercise of gambling and fraud against the State, and fraudulent transfer of securities.
With the same provision, the investigating judge ordered the preventive seizure of 6 betting agencies, in Palermo and in the province of Naples, for a total value estimated at around one million euros. Numerous searches in Sicily and Campania.
The investigation is the continuation of the operation “All in” of June 2020, when 10 people were arrested and 5 companies controlled by the mafia were seized.
From this investigation a second line of investigation emerged, carried out by the Gico anti-mafia specialists of the Palermo economic-financial police unit, which allowed the reconstruction of a network of people and companies that managed the illegal collection of bets.
Therefore, two different parallel criminal associations have been discovered, both led by Rubino, capable of generating betting volumes of at least 2.5 million euros per month, as evidenced by some telephone interceptions.
The first criminal group, headed by Vincenzo Fiore and Christian Tortora and made up of Salvatore Barrale, Maurizio Di Bella, Pasquale Somma and Giovanni Castagnetta, managed a network of agencies, each of which was linked to trusted subjects.
The second organization had Rosario Chianello and Michelangelo Guarino as prominent figures and took advantage of the collaboration of Giovanni Di Noto, known as “Gianfranco”, already arrested for being considered a prominent member of the “Noce” mafia family. This criminal group also included Davide Catalano, Giacomo Bilello, Pietro Montalto, Antonio Inserra, and Salvatore Lombardo. The illegal collection of bets was made through the “screen” of duly authorized agencies.
Basically, the managers of agencies authorized to collect bets “over the counter”, according to the criminal associations investigated, simultaneously fueled an illicit circuit by accepting cash bets from customers through the use of illegal foreign platforms. In this way they managed to escape the tax authorities and the provisions on money laundering.
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