Blitz against the Salemi crime family: two Palermo brothers involved in money laundering scheme

It is a familiar sight, the one offered by the latest anti-mafia operation carried out yesterday morning (April 16) by the Carabinieri of Trapani, assisted by their colleagues from Palermo. A mafia that once again demonstrates a preference for moving “dirty money” rather than shooting; money that is laundered through corruption and bid rigging. A mafia that controls contracts and deals with energy. In short, it is the mafia of Matteo Messina Denaro, once again emerging. At the center of this investigation by the police, coordinated by the Dda of Palermo, is the control over contracts for the supply of electricity on the island of Favignana and the attempt to acquire control of clean commercial companies, as well as confiscated ones, such as the ex Despar warehouse in Castelvetrano.

Investigated and charges

There are 11 people affected by precautionary measures ordered by the judge of the Tribunal of Palermo: six in prison, five under house arrest. Another 12 people have received guarantees. The operation involved the provinces of Trapani, Palermo, Como and Rimini. The Trapani and Palermo Investigative Units operated. The suspects were charged with mafia association, corruption, bid rigging, fraudulent transfer of values, receiving stolen goods, and self-laundering.

The Salemi mafia family

At the center of the investigations is the Salemi mafia family, a prominent clan of Cosa Nostra in Trapani. The Carabinieri found that Cosa Nostra had rigged the tender, issued by the public service company that manages the distribution and supply of electricity in Favignana, a contract awarded for the construction of four medium-voltage distribution lines and two medium/low-voltage transformation cabins. Two Mazara del Vallo entrepreneurs were favored. The payment of bribes by two entrepreneurs from Campobello to be entrusted with the transport of fuel necessary for the operation of the Favignana power plant was also uncovered. Then there is the deal that saw a collaboration between the Trapani and Palermo mafia families and some entrepreneurs. For the big business deal, a company was already ready, officially owned by unsuspecting individuals. A group capable of acquiring 12 Coop supermarkets from “Coop Alleanza 3.0”, owners of Coop supermarkets in Sicily that had decided to sell. However, the attempt failed. The business of large-scale distribution remains a tradition of the Trapani mafia, passed down among the associates of Matteo Messina Denaro.

The two Palermo entrepreneurs

Two Palermo entrepreneurs are under investigation, owners of shares in a capital company specially set up to evade asset prevention regulations and facilitate the use of dirty money to try to acquire numerous supermarkets in the western provinces of Sicily. Brothers Leonardo and Francesco Paolo Palmeri ended up in prison. Intercepted by the Carabinieri, they reiterated to their contacts that “the purchase of supermarkets was the result of a specific agreement they had reached with the mafia representatives in the area.” They had obtained prior approval from “individuals able to guarantee the smooth opening of each store.”

The money to be brought back

Also arrested were two figures close to boss Matteo Messina Denaro. The Salemi residents Salvatore Angelo (under house arrest), 75 years old, and his son Andrea, 45 years old (in prison). Both were involved in the purchase of Coop supermarkets. Salvatore Angelo, after serving 13 years in prison, was released in 2019 and returned to the service of Cosa Nostra to manage business and money. Acquiring new skills, he had become a liaison with the ‘Ndrangheta of the Strangio family, in particular with Paolo Nirto, husband of Angela Strangio. Angelo and Nirto had met in prison, and an agreement was born from there, that is, the recovery of a million-dollar treasure deposited in a Frankfurt branch of Deutsche Bank. An operation that saw the Palermo mobsters ousted by Riina in action. The Carabinieri intercepted all the stages of the money returning to the hands of the old Palermo bosses. Twelve million euros transferred from Deutsche Bank to an Hsbc branch in the same city of Frankfurt. But there is not only this money in this investigation. The investigators intercepted two other operations, involving 4.9 and 38 million euros, money to be brought back to Italy through a network of entrepreneurs, with terminals in Ireland, Poland, and Spain. Meetings between Palermo and Salemi were also recorded and intercepted.

The return of the old bosses

The old mobsters who have returned to command are said to be Michele Micalizzi and Salvatore Marsalone. The first is the son-in-law of Saro Riccobono, a narco-traffic boss with the US, killed by Riina in November 1982, at the same dinner where Totò Minore, also an opponent of Riina, was strangled. The investigation confirms the renewed alliance between the mafia and the ‘Ndrangheta. Among the money to be laundered is a hidden treasure, the result of the illicit earnings of Calogero John Luppino, from Campobello di Mazara, arrested in the “Mafia Bet” operation, the so-called king of clandestine online betting, who operated under the control of boss Matteo Messina Denaro. Luppino’s house was just meters away from that of the fugitive in Campobello di Mazara.