Anti-mafia operation in Italy: €200 million in assets seized from former Cosa Nostra boss Messina Denaro
Italian police have confiscated companies and bank accounts linked to Matteo Messina Denaro, a former head of Cosa Nostra. The value of the assets is estimated at €200 million.
Anti-mafia operation in Italy: €200 million in assets seized from former Cosa Nostra boss Messina Denaro
Italian law enforcement has concluded a significant asset confiscation operation against a wealth portfolio traceable to Matteo Messina Denaro, the noted former mafia boss of Cosa Nostra. During the investigation, numerous companies and bank accounts were seized, with a total value quantified at approximately €200 million.
According to findings from the investigation, the sums in question represent illicit proceeds derived mainly from drug trafficking, an activity that intensified especially during the 1980s. The illicit capital is believed to have been reinvested in a network of enterprises created specifically to launder dirty money, as reported by Italian media.
The investigation extended beyond national borders, involving Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain, Lebanon and the Principality of Monaco. As part of the same operation, three people were arrested in Palermo, Sicily.
Messina Denaro had managed to direct the Sicilian mafia organisation for approximately three decades whilst remaining a fugitive. He was captured in January 2023, but died after just eight months in detention, at the age of 61, from colon cancer.
Source: PhileNews
Source: Philenews