Mafia

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Victoria Gotti Spills Mob Secrets in Tell-All Book

Author describes ritual that 'made' Junior

(Newser) - Victoria Gotti insists she doesn’t condone crime. But in her new tell-all book, The Family of Mine, Mafia don John Gotti's daughter compares mobsters to Robin Hood and his merry men, claims they’re better than corrupt politicians, and says she sees no difference between paying into a protection...

Cops Seize Mafia Don's 'Croc Weapon'

Mobster accused of threatening to feed extortion victims to 6-foot beast

(Newser) - Italian police have confiscated a crocodile they suspect was used by a Mafia boss to persuade people to cough up protection money. The gangster invited extortion victims to his home and threatened to set the crocodile on them if they didn't pay up, investigators say. He has has been charged...

Mob 'Acid' Hitman Gets Life Behind Bars

(Newser) - A mob hitman who used acid to melt his victims' bodies has been sentenced to life, reports the New York Daily News. Charles Carneglia smirked in a Brooklyn courtroom as he listened to statements from his four victims' relatives, including one who called him an "animal" with a "...

Informant: Italian Mafia Sank Ship Carrying Nuke Waste

Authorities have pinpointed ship, but haven't confirmed contents

(Newser) - Italian authorities are investigating an informant’s claim that the mafia sank a ship containing nuclear waste off the country’s southwest coast, the BBC reports. Underwater cameras show the ship intact, with barrels nearby marked as containing toxic contents; the informant says that organized crime has gotten into the...

'Mob Sewage' Closes Capri's Blue Grotto

(Newser) - The famous Blue Grotto of the Italian island of Capri has been closed after its striking cerulean waters were fouled by raw sewage believed to be dumped by the Mafia, reports the Independent. La Grotta Azzurra, a favorite haunt of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, is celebrated for its striking waters...

Mexican Drug Cartels Turn Into Mafias

(Newser) - Mexican drug cartels have evolved into mafia empires, charging protection fees to businesses and providing social services and jobs where government cannot, the AP reports. Behind it lurks the threat of violence or kidnapping, which drug lords carry out with near impunity. "Today, the traffickers have big companies, education,...

Chubby Thug Bada-Binged From Mob Eateries

(Newser) - A chubby mobster has been barred from eating at New York restaurants known as Mafia hangouts, reports the New York Post. Anthony "Fat Tony" Rabito, 75, was just paroled on gambling, extortion, and racketeering charges, and he can no longer chow down at a string of wise guy spots,...

$134B Bond Fraud May Be Mob Handiwork

US, Italian authorities blame organized crime for huge counterfeiting

(Newser) - The counterfeit bonds with a face value of $134 billion seized near the Swiss border are probably the work of the Mafia, say Italian and American secret services. The mystery surrounding the suitcase stuffed with fake US Treasury bonds deepened yesterday, after a blog revealed that police had released the...

Russia Bans Gambling as Mega-Casinos Crap Out

Planned mini-Vegases stall in financial crisis

(Newser) - Gambling has played a major role in Russian life since 1989, with high-rolling casinos—more than 30 in Moscow alone—echoing the cowboy capitalism of the post-Soviet years. But July 1, Russia is shutting down all gaming and slot machine halls, confining gambling to four Vegas-style zones across the country....

Gambling NBA Ref Gets Early Release After Mob Beating

(Newser) - The NBA ref imprisoned for betting on games will finish his 15-month sentence in a halfway house, the Tampa Tribune reports; he’ll be released Wednesday. A press release from a “prisoner advocacy group” said Donaghy is being sprung early because he “was injured during an assault in...

Miller Pulls Mafia Ads Amid Italian Complaints

Commercials show Sopranos actor offering 'protection'

(Newser) - Complaints from Chicago’s Italian-American community have prompted MillerCoors to pull a Miller Lite ad campaign in which Sopranos actor Frank Vincent plays a stereotypical Mafia type, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. In the two spots, he asks a store clerk and bartender if they need “protection.” They say...

Flush Mafia Invests Big in Recession Italy

It's buying up struggling companies

(Newser) - As banks spurn borrowers, Italian mafiosi are lending out their cash stockpiles to profit from the global recession, Bloomberg reports. Long invested in cash-intensive businesses like food distribution, the mafia is using its liquidity to take control of other legitimate businesses—and as a bonus, the three main mob outfits...

Tab: Real Housewives Married to Mob

Father-in-law executed mob-style, sons not involved

(Newser) - Two of the stars of Bravo’s reality show Real Housewives of New Jersey are married to mafia kids, the National Enquirer reports. Dina and Caroline Manzo each wed a son of Alberto “Tiny” Manzo, who was executed in August on suspicion of stealing from a mafia casino. Tiny’...

Cash-Rich Italian Mafia Grows in Recession

Mobsters prey on desperate consumers looking for cash, credit

(Newser) - In Italy, one man’s recession is a mobster’s paradise, the AP reports. Organized crime syndicates are taking full advantage of the economic slowdown, gobbling up businesses and flaunting an asset in short supply these days: liquidity. Money is no object to the syndicates, who scored $167 billion in...

Chicago Mob Snitch Gets 12 Years for 14 Murders

Victims outraged

(Newser) - Former Chicago mob hit man Nicholas Calabrese was sentenced to 12 years in prison yesterday, enraging family members of victims who wanted him jailed for life, the Tribune reports. Calabrese admitted to whacking 14 people, but his testimony in the so-called “Family Secrets” trial put away three top mob...

In Credit Crisis, Italians Turn to Mafia

Uncle Tony will be happy to lend you this money you need for a very reasonable APR

(Newser) - In Italy, there’s one industry profiting from the credit freeze: Organized crime. Thanks to its unparalleled liquidity, the mafia has become the lender of choice for many small Italian businesses, NPR reports. An estimated 180,000 have turned to so-called “stranglers,” or loan sharks, who charge annual...

Gigolo Who Scammed German Women Goes on Trial

Swiss seducer accused of blackmail

(Newser) - A smooth-talking Swiss man accused of bilking Germany's richest woman out of millions will go on trial next week, Der Spiegel reports. Prosecutors say Helg Sgarbi seduced billionaire BMW heiress Susanne Klatten, persuaded her to give him $8 million, and then threatened to send sex tapes of the two of...

Ex-FBI Agent Draws 40-Year Sentence in Murder, But ...

Judge's ruling all but guarantees appeal

(Newser) - A judge sentenced former FBI agent John Connolly to 40 years for a 1982 murder today, and simultaneously blew a giant hole in the prosecution’s case, the Miami Herald reports. The facts seem to be clear: Connolly told mobsters with whom he was in cahoots that an associate, who...

Snitch: Gotti Had Neighbor Dissolved in Acid

Gotti allegedly had neighbor killed as revenge for running over son

(Newser) - A mob informant says the body of John Gotti's neighbor was dissolved in a barrel of acid after he was shot on the crime kingpin's orders, the New York Daily News reports. John Favara disappeared after accidentally killing Gotti's 12-year-old son in a 1980 traffic accident. Police believe he was...

Nigerian Gangsters Wage Turf War on Mob in Southern Italy

Turf battles erupt as newcomers seek foothold in lawless southern Italy

(Newser) - African immigrants are being caught in the crossfire as Nigerian gangsters battle the Italian mob for control of southern Italy's drug and prostitution rackets, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Camorra once treated African criminals as useful subordinates, but vicious turf wars have erupted as the newcomers seek a bigger...

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