Assets worth
approximately 215 million euros were seized Monday by the
Italian financial police (GdF) between the southern regions of
Calabria and Campania.
The assets were seized from an entrepreneur believed to
have links with the Piromalli clan of Gioia Tauro, Calabria.
Investigators say that economic and criminal ties between
the entrepreneur and the 'Ndrangheta clan had emerged during an
inquiry that showed an enormous difference between the man's
assets and the income he declared to tax authorities.
Assets and shares of 6 companies, 85 real estate properties,
42 financial ties and cash worth almost 700,000 euros were
seized.
The largest shopping center in Calabria was among the
assets seized from the man, held to be the "entrepreneurial
center" of the clan: Parco Annunziata of the entrepreneur
Alfonso Annunziata. The man was of Campania region origins but
moved to Gioia Tauro in the late 1980s.
The center had been seized by a judicial ruling in March
last year as part of Operation Bucefalo against the Piromalli
clan. This time the measure - issued by the Reggio Calabria
court after a request filed by the state prosecutor's office -
is a preventative measure.
The shopping center is currently being managed by an
external authority and investigators have called it an
"exemplary case" of sequestered asset management.
Annunziata was arrested for links to a mafia-related criminal
organization as part of Operation Bucefalo.
The preliminary investigative judge of Reggio Calabria stated
in the arrest warrant motivations that Annunziata "is not a
victim and was not forced to aid the Piromalli clan. To the
contrary: he has long been linked to members of the family
leaders of the clan and is thus someone who has for 20 years
been working voluntarily and in full awareness at the service of
the clan's business and economic aims", calling him the
"entrepreneurial heart" of the criminal clan.
The investigation found that the entrepreneur has had strong
links with the clan since the early 1980s.
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