Bagheria: Entrepreneur Calì’s car fire ruled not deliberate

Last Updated: March 15, 2024

Bagheria, in fiamme l'auto dell'imprenditore Gianluca Maria Calì: si era ribellato al pizzo

It was an electrical malfunction that caused the car of the entrepreneur Gianluca Maria Calì to catch fire. The investigations conducted by the carabinieri exclude the deliberate origin of the fire, which occurred yesterday, Thursday, March 14, in the parking lot of the Lidl supermarket in Bagheria, on the outskirts of Palermo. The military conducted on-site surveys and viewed the images from the store’s CCTV cameras: no traces of flammable liquid were found.

Furthermore, no suspicious activity emerged from the analyzed videos. The fire damaged the entrepreneur’s armored Audi, who in the past reported extortionists and always fought for the principles of legality. The firefighters intervened on the scene to extinguish the fire and all investigations were immediately started to identify any possible intentional motive, a hypothesis now ruled out.

“The smell of burning fills my senses – the entrepreneur wrote on social media in the past few hours – but it will never destroy my dignity as a Free Entrepreneur”. Calì, who now owns a car dealership in both Bagheria and Palermo, reported extortion demands in 2011. Five vehicles were destroyed by arson, leading to arrests for affiliates of the Bagheria mafia clan. However, the intimidations did not stop: he continued to receive threats and retaliations. To feel safe, he purchased an armored car put up for sale by the Ministry of Justice on Ebay.