REGGIO CALABRIA «My life is, garden, work and bergamots with the company of my father-in-law who opened a company… I am a worker… I don’t see anyone, I don’t see anyone… you’ll never see me at the bar!”. With a certain satisfaction Carmelo “Memè” Gullì explains to the alleged gang leader, Mimmo Palumbo, his “lifestyle” away from trouble and, above all, from the spotlight of the police. According to what emerged from the “Arangea” investigation of the Anti-Mafia District of Reggio Calabria and as reported in the order by the investigating judge, «Demetrio Palumbo proved to be inserted in the dynamics of the ‘ndrangheta» constituting in fact «an active part and organizer for the conferral of dowries and for the affiliations of new members”.
And it is for these reasons that he finds himself discussing with Memè Gullì, in an attempt to understand if he had a criminal record. «(…) Uncensored, do you know what he means? If you have had to deal with definitives…”. «What a criminal! I have a clean criminal record?” Gullì replies laughing, as the investigating judge notes in the order. As we have already reported, the interlocutors exchanged advice to avoid investigations, and in this context Demetrio Palumbo, «demonstrating an experience out of the ordinary, believed that, in the selection of subjects to be elevated to the highest ranks of the gang, greater caution was necessary », writes the investigating judge. The two, in the intercepted conversation, talk about an unidentified subject, leading Palumbo to promise «the provision of a dowry in his favor and to ensure similar recognition for the other boys», we read in the order, announcing that he would turn to Sebastiano Praticò known as “Bastiano” to provide the appropriate ‘Ndrangheta skills. Then Mico Palumbo «proposed to Memè Gullì to proceed, in a confidential manner, with the subsequent appointment of the two positions of “accountant” and “head of company”» always preserving the role of Sebastiano Praticò known as “Bastiano”.
In the following days, on 1 October 2019, Demetrio Palumbo met with Domenico Modafferi, whom he instructed to organize a meeting between him and Memè Gullì “aimed at planning the mafia contributions”, we read in the ordinance. According to the investigators, and as reported by the investigating judge, Modafferi «completely unaware of certain dynamics, was not only elected as messenger but was also informed of the content of the meeting and responsible for then taking care of the operations with Gullì”. However, months pass without anything happening, so much so that the investigators are only able to gather news on 25 January 2020 when Demetrio Palumbo, having had no news from Gullì, questioned Modafferi again who, for his part, admitted to had no follow-ups to report. «(…) you have to tell him “you see that friend Mimmo had spoken to… basically that it was deliberate”». Thus Palumbo explained to the other what he should have said to Memè Gullì, reiterating the need to meet him. «(…) And… unfinished business… I have never liked leaving them! If he didn’t come, Memè… it means that… if he didn’t say anything to her… it means he didn’t have a complete conversation with her! It’s not like I can move again to see him!
«Ah Mimmo, do you see it in Domenico? For Saturday? Friday… for Sunday… at 11…”. At the end of the month, January 31, 2020, Palumbo orders his nephew to organize a meeting with Domenico Modafferi for February 2. The meeting will then be monitored by the police force. It will then be 3 February 2020 when Demetrio “Mico” Palumbo and his son “Nino” “returned to discuss the meeting of 26 January that Palumbo had had with Memè Gullì”, notes the investigating judge in the order. And, on that occasion, Nino informed him that he had learned from a member of the State Police that that day his father had been photographed with a subject unknown to the police and recordings by police personnel of a video surveillance system. «(…) listen… this morning someone I know came to the police station, he says that they took photographs of you… down there and they went to the butcher’s shop to ask for the cameras…». And again: «He says that maybe there was someone, he says that maybe they don’t… they don’t know who he is!». And the father replies: «Ah yes! I was with what, with Mimmo! Yes, I saw that she took the photograph of me… I was with Memè… the female! According to the investigators, and as stated in the order, Palumbo himself, recalling the occasion, “at first seemed to overlook the danger of his interlocutor being identified” but, having learned from his son Antonino that Gullì had a criminal record, he he certainly said that, in the event of further investigative investigations, he could justify that meeting due to a long and dated acquaintance with Gullì.
«(…) he took the photograph of me while I was going there, they came back and I saw her, the female who took the photograph of me… but she didn’t take it of me there with him… even if practically, at that moment… his bicycle broke and he stopped, knowing me, I saw him grow…». During the conversation intercepted by the investigators, Nino Palumbo, regarding his knowledge of the member of the State Police, “underlined how this was one of his clients and that he had warned him about how upright the colleague was” who had carried out the acquisition of camera recordings. «(…) this one here is a client of mine, but he said that his colleague says: “Nino, it’s a dog!”» «“he gets it in his face” he told me “he’s not looking at anything!”. He says “we’ll look at it too”. ([email protected])
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