The 'Ndrangheta is still 'alive' in Emilia Romagna: this is demonstrated by the 'Grimilde' operation that led to the arrest of 16 alleged members of the Grande Aracri gang from Cutro. The 'Aemilia' investigation had already brought to light the 'Ndrangheta's ability to infiltrate the economic and social fabric of Emilia, showing for the first time the criminal power of the Grande Aracri gang from Cutro. This morning more than 300 police officers between Parma, Reggio Emilia and Piacenza, coordinated by the SCO (Central Operations Service), executed a precautionary custody order against the Calabrian gang. Among the recipients of the precautionary custody measures requested by the prosecutor of the Bologna DDA Beatrice Ronchi and issued by the investigating judge Alberto Ziroldi – 16, of which 13 in prison and 3 under house arrest, while the suspects are 76 – there is also the boss Francesco Grande Aracri (brother of the more famous Nicolino), in addition to his sons Salvatore and Paolo. Francesco Grande Aracri, already convicted of mafia association in the past, lived in Brescello, in the province of Reggio Emilia. According to the investigators, he and his sons were the leaders of the criminal group, whose members are responsible in various capacities for mafia-style association, extortion, attempted extortion, fraudulent transfer of assets, illicit intermediation and exploitation of labor, damage and aggravated fraud. Also in prison was the president of the Piacenza city council, Giuseppe Caruso, of Fratelli d'Italia, who according to the investigating judge “has a non-secondary role in the gang”. “Caruso’s personal involvement dates back to when he was an employee of the Piacenza Customs Agency,” explained the chief prosecutor of Bologna, Giuseppe Amato, “and does not concern his political role.” Fdi, upon learning the news, relieved Caruso of his duties. According to the investigating judge, Caruso had “stably made available the prerogatives, professional and friendly relationships and tools connected to his work as an employee of the Piacenza Customs office for the pursuit of the interests” of the ‘ndrangheta organization. “Because I have a thousand friends, from all sides, banking, oil mills, industrialists,” said the politician speaking to another suspect while being wiretapped in 2015, “anything you want… so I know where to knock….” And again, while he was speaking to his brother Albino, who was also arrested: “I speak clearly to Salvatore (Grande Aracri, ed.), I tell him… Salvato, we must not drown this company, we must try to take the dick and suck it or not?”. The reference is to 'Riso Roncaia Spa', a Mantua-based company that had turned to the organization, later ending up in its clutches and involved in an alleged scam on an Agea loan.
The case of a company from Mantua, Riso Roncaia Spa, is one of the issues at the center of the investigation by the Bologna DDA. A story, the investigating judge reconstructed, that fits into the ability of the Emilian cell "to influence a company in financial difficulty". From the documents of the investigation it emerges that the Roncaia family, burdened by debts, had asked for help from Giuseppe Caruso (current president of the Piacenza city council) and his brother Albino. From a telephone conversation in June 2015 between Claudio Roncaia and Giuseppe Caruso it emerges how the latter "attributed to himself and his group - writes the investigating judge - the credit for both the resolution of the Unicredit problem", towards which there was a debt, ("have you seen how we move?") and "of the Roncaia family's position becoming favorable within Unicredit thanks to the decisive intervention of a person of importance brought in by the Carusos". Subsequently, "it was understood - writes the investigating judge - that the person who intervened to resolve the Roncaia problems was the then CEO of Unicredit, Ghizzoni". The order cites another wiretap from December 2015 in which a manager of Riso Roncaia speaks who "confirmed - we read in the order - Ghizzoni's intervention to extinguish the debt". "It was Ghizzoni, he had the Unicredit legal office intervene - this is the text of the wiretap reported in the documents". However, it must be said that Federico Ghizzoni is not under investigation and according to the investigators it is possible that the wiretapped people involved in the investigation were boasting about their knowledge of him.
Giuseppe Caruso, the arrested president of the Piacenza city council, is a well-known politician in Piacenza, where he has been active in the local right for years. He was an opposition city councilor from 2002 to 2012 for Alleanza Nazionale first and then for Popolo delle Libertà, and then joined Fratelli d'Italia. Present at all party initiatives, he is one of the best-known faces of Fratelli d'Italia and has lived in Piacenza for more than 30 years. His resume includes positions as a labor consultant, auditor, programmer analyst, and finally an employee of the Customs Administration. In the 2017 municipal elections, in which the center-right won with the current Barbieri administration, he obtained 155 preferences that allowed him to enter the city council and to be proposed by Fdi, which had received only one assessor in the council, as a candidate for the presidency of the city council. “We reiterate the total extraneousness of the administration and the Municipality of Piacenza from this affair, for which we do not accept any type of low political speculation, and we will evaluate every action to protect the good name and transparency of the activity of the Authority”. This is how Mayor Patrizia Barbieri intervenes on the arrest of the President of the City Council for 'Ndrangheta. “The news of Giuseppe Caruso's involvement in the anti-mafia investigation, however not in the context of his political or administrative activity, but expressly linked to his role as an official of the Customs Agency and his private professional activity – says the mayor – has left us disconcerted and deeply shocked. In expressing great appreciation for the operation of the police forces and maximum confidence in the action of the judiciary, we reaffirm the maximum condemnation for every type of mafia, which we fight and will always fight with the maximum commitment and with all our strength”.
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