Mafia seizes 1.5 million assets from two “tortoriciani” leaders, 5 family members under investigation

Last Updated: March 21, 2024

The Guardia di Finanza of Messina has executed two seizure decrees against two individuals, operating on the Tyrrhenian side and considered socially dangerous, one from Locri and the other from Catania. They are accused of belonging to a criminal group active in the Nebrodi territory. They played a decisive role in the commission of multiple fraudulent and predatory behaviors, as managers of two Agricultural Assistance Centers, one in Tortorici and the other in Cesarò. These centers, the weak link in the chain of public control over the allocation of funds, represented the gateway through which to present themselves to the European Union as legitimate beneficiaries of those contributions that, on paper, were supposed to support farmers who respect the rules and counteract the abandonment of rural areas. The seizure of assets amounts to a total of 1.5 million euros. The Gico’s military of the Economic-Financial Police Unit of Messina ascertained, for one of the two subjects targeted by the measures, numerous behaviors constituting the crimes of mafia-type association and aggravated fraud for the obtaining of public allocations, a violation also attributable to the other subject involved, whose dangerous manifestations continued from 2012 to 2016. Similarly, economic and asset investigations have revealed the availability of assets, held by the investigated individuals and their relatives, disproportionate to the declared lawful incomes, demonstrating the close temporal correlation between the documented antisocial behaviors and the illicit enrichment detected.