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CRIME

New York mafia boss extradited to Italy

A New York mafia boss has been extradited to Italy after allegedly demanding €1 million from an Italian businessman, police said on Wednesday.

Published: 29 April 2015 12:43 CEST
New York mafia boss extradited to Italy
Francesco Palmeri is said to be the number three of New York's Gambino clan. New York photo: Shutterstock

Francesco Palmeri was extradited to Italy following his arrest last December in New York, police said in a statement.

He stands accused of travelling to southern Italy and threatening a businessman in Matera, demanding repayment of a €1 million loan owed to New York’s Gambino mafia clan.

In order to intimidate the businessman, police said Palmeri was backed up by a few people linked to the criminal underworld.

The alleged mobster is said to be the number three of the Gambino clan, described by police as the “underboss” of the mafia family.

He was arrested alongside seven other people accused of being tied to the New York crime syndicate. 

SEE ALSO: Extradition of ex-mafia boss from UK dropped

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POLITICS

Italy’s Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

The president of Italy's northwest Liguria region and the ex-head of Genoa's port were among 10 arrested on Tuesday in a sweeping anti-corruption investigation which also targeted officials for alleged mafia ties.

Published: 7 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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