It is led by the "witch of the betrothed" or Zia Maria, registered as Matilde Macciocchi, also known as "the blonde", a 61-year-old resident in the Neapolitan neighborhood of Ponticelli and the "pink" criminal organization, dismantled by the Carabinieri of Caserta as part of an investigation by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Naples, is composed mostly of women.
The investigation sheds light on the phenomenon of marriages of convenience between immigrants and compliant Italian women aimed at facilitating the illegal entry and stay of the former in Italy. Eighteen measures issued by the GIP of Naples (five in prison, eleven under house arrest and two obligations to reside), thirteen of which concern women.
Ponticelli, the operational base of the entire group. The factotum Antonietta Noletto also ended up in prison. Aunt Maria is an “old acquaintance” of the fake marriages, already arrested in the past and investigated for the same facts; emblematic is a newspaper article from 2012 attached to the documents by the investigators, entitled “Donna Matilde, sorceress of the betrothed”.
Macciocchi, in addition to organizing the system, taking care of finding and hosting immigrants, falsifying residence documents and family statuses, procured with Noletto the girls for marriages, often indigent and therefore needy, such as the 27 and 29 year old sisters Jessica and Francesca Riccardi Catino, or the 21 year old Enrica Russo – the three ended up under house arrest – who like the other “brides” contracted more than one marriage, also appearing as witnesses for other weddings of convenience.
Francesca Riccardi alone, who worked in a bar in Ponticelli where the group had its base, was married five times.
“If you come now they have the girl ready, don't worry we'll make an agreement. Everyone knows me from Milan to Naples”. This is how “aunt Maria”, the 61-year-old Matilde Macciocchi who ended up in prison as part of an investigation into aiding illegal immigration by the Naples DDA, responds in September 2019 to a Moroccan immigrant who contacts her. “A friend of mine wants to get married, understand?” the foreigner says explicitly.
It is in the wiretaps, even though at a certain point the suspects began to use cryptic language as a precaution and to reduce the conversations, that the Carabinieri of the Caserta Company found evidence of the marriages of convenience organised by the group led by "Aunt Maria".
In another intercepted phone call, Macciocchi “instructs” a foreigner who has just had a baby, assuring him that he will now have “the permit right away. You are the father of an Italian child born in Italy, do you understand? Let’s make a mess this time”. The immigrant, who lives in Lombardy, then reminds Aunt Maria of a girl to marry off to her cousin. “Give me a girl here in Milan and I’ll take care of the rest”, then concludes: but if he hasn’t done anything, I have a friend here in Milan who will do everything”.
Even more explicit is another phone call between Aunt Maria and another immigrant. “Bring something for the witnesses,” the woman recommends, “bring some money, bring something for the Municipality, we’ll check it out and everything, we’ll close tomorrow.”
Article published on 12 October 2022 - 14:45
