Anti-mafia blitz between Palermo and Trapani, godfathers and entrepreneurs together

April 16, 2024, 11:01 am

2 min read

PALERMO – All together with one goal: to make money or clean it up. Eleven people were arrested in the police raid, another twelve are under investigation at large. The list opens with Salvatore and Andrea Angelo, 75 and 45 years old (the first ended up under house arrest, the second in prison). Historical surname in the Salemi mafia, always linked to Matteo Messina Denaro.

The recycling business

They would be the architects of a large money laundering ring which would also have involved the Palermo mafia family of Partanna Mondellodriven by Michele Micalizzi, son-in-law of Rosario Riccobono. The mediator would have been Michele Mondino, an 80-year-old from Palermo (house arrest), another old acquaintance of the police.

Micalizzi e Salvatore Marsalone, a 71-year-old drug trafficker, once a loyalist of Stefano Bontade, wanted to recover 12 million euros from an account opened at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt. Micalizzi, after spending 20 years in prison and before returning to his cell two years ago, worked hard thanks to contacts with esteemed professionals.

The old godfathers go out of their way to save the assets still hidden. An expert called by Angelo would have come into play in the recycling operation, Giuseppe Burrafato (investigated at large). There were two other operations at stake to bring another 40 million back into Italy.

“We have the clearance”

Burrafato would also have met Paolo Nirta in 2020, member of the ‘Ndrangheta family of the same name. At stake was the possibility of changing a large quantity of old lira. “We have 360 ​​degree clearance – said Andrea Angelo –. We we can stay in Palermo, Trapani, Agrigento, Catania, Enna, Caltanissetta, anywhere. The others have problems moving around, we have no problems, we have permission.”

Among the deals reconstructed by the prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia, by the deputy Paolo Guido and by the substitutes Pierangelo Padova, Gianluca De Leo and Bruno Brucoli there is one that is in the final stretch. They wanted to acquire a slew of Coop-branded supermarkets in western Sicily.

They would have used Leonardo and Francesco Paolo Palmeri, 66 and 62 year-olds from Palermo, owners of the company “Grande distribuzione Sicilia srl”. In the shadows they would work Bartolomeo Anzalone60 years old from Palermo, Antonio Vincenzo Lo Piccolo62 years old of Carini (all four ended up in prison).

House arrest for Elisabetta Bonsignore, from Palermo, 60 years old, administrator of the company “Sea, electric company of Favignana”. She would have received or accepted the promise of money in exchange for the assignment of some orders. The group led by the Angelos apparently got their hands on the realization of some important works awarded by Omnia from the Mazara area Antonino Putaggio 67 years old (house arrest).

Arrests at home also for Natale and Giovanni Onofrio Beltrallo, aged 30 and 57 (the first under house arrest and the second in prison) of Fb Transport who would be favored in the fuel transport service needed to operate the thermoelectric power plant.