Mafia kingpin Savino Parisi was
greeted with horses, cars and other gifts after his release from
prison, a former mobster turned prosecution witness said in
court Monday.
Gifts came from across the Japigia district of Bari to
welcome Parisi home, recalled Vito Tritta during the trial of
Parisi who is accused with 46 others of various mafia activities
as well as international drug trafficking, fraud and bid
rigging.
In December 2009, police arrested some 82 people including
Parisi as part of a major anti-mafia investigation, and seized
property ranging from sports cars to race horses.
Court heard that Parisi, a member of Puglia-based Sacra
Corona Unita, had been released from prison in April 2007 after
about 13 years in detention for masterminding a public
healthcare scam.
On his release, neighbours in the southeastern city of Bari
brought meat and cheese as well as the larger gifts of cars and
horses, said Tritta.
While he was free, Parisi was escorted by mob members
riding scooters and carrying weapons, with others riding ahead
to ensure he could avoid police officers, said Tritta, who also
described for the court the network of drug dealers who worked
for the mafia clan.
Parisi, whose clan started out in the local drug trade,
later expanded into building contracts.
Investigators have said the 2009 operation showed the
extent to which the Parisi clan had stretched its influence,
corrupting dozens of lawyers, businessmen and city
administrators to secure lucrative public building contracts.
Its conquests included a 30-million-euro deal to build a
new university student center, which it allegedly won with the
help from its contacts in city administration.
City officials, attorneys and a number of entrepreneurs
from Bari's "high society" were among those arrested in the
December 2009 sweep.
The Sacra Corona Unita is Italy's fourth mafia after Cosa
Nostra, the Camorra and 'Ndrangheta.
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