Giuseppe Falsone

Mug shot of Giuseppe Falsone

Giuseppe Falsone (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe falˈsoːne]; born 28 August 1970 in Campobello di Licata), sometimes spelled as Falzone, is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was on the "Most wanted list" of the Italian Ministry of the Interior from January 1999, until his arrest in France in June 2010.[1] He is considered to be one of the bosses of Cosa Nostra in the province of Agrigento, jointly with Gerlandino Messina from Porto Empedocle.[2][3]

Mafia heritage

Giuseppe Falsone was born in Campobello di Licata in the province of Agrigento, Sicily. He is the son of Vincenzo Falsone (born in 1930), the undisputed Mafia boss of the town for many years.[4][5] Vincenzo Falsone was well connected to Mafia bosses such Giuseppe Settecasi, Carmelo Colletti and Giuseppe Di Caro who were capo provincia of Agrigento in the past.[5]

On 24 June 1991, Giuseppe's father Vincenzo Falsone and his elder brother Angelo were killed by the Stidda during a vicious war with Cosa Nostra clans. Giuseppe took over the leadership of the Mafia family when he was not yet 21 years old.[5] In retaliation, Falsone killed Salvatore Ingaglio, responsible for the killing of his father and elder brother. Falsone has been a fugitive since January 1999. He was convicted of Mafia association in 2000 and murder in 2001.[5]

Capo provincia

At a meeting of Mafia families from Agrigento on 14 July 2002, in Santa Margherita di Belice, Mafia bosses were supposed to nominate a new capo provincia after the arrest of Calogero Di Caro, the boss from Canicattì.[6] Mafia boss of bosses Bernardo Provenzano sponsored Falsone, while his rival Maurizio Di Gati was sponsored by Antonino Giuffrè.[7] The police interrupted the summit. Di Gati was able to escape before the raid but he stepped aside as provincial boss for Falsone after the arrest of Giuffrè and due to the opposition of Provenzano to his position.[7] Cesare Lombardozzi, Mafia boss of Agrigento, allegedly smoothed the transition.[8]

Arrest

Falsone's main criminal interests are in extortion and public work contracts. In July 2004 assets worth two million euro were seized by the police, including real estate, 100 hectares of farmland, a winery and transport companies. Falsone's mother, sister and brother were arrested as well.[9] In the pizzini (small slips of paper used to communicate with other mafiosi to avoid phone conversations) with Bernardo Provenzano, Falsone was indicated as number 28.[10]

In June 2008, Falsone just escaped his arrest. Police raided a house in Palazzo Adriano, in the province of Palermo, but he was already gone.[11] In March 2010, police seized more assets from Falsone worth €30 million.[12]

He was arrested on 25 June 2010 in Marseille (France).[1] He had undergone plastic surgery and denied being Falsone showing a false French identity card, but his fingerprints gave him away. At the time of his arrest he was considered to be the Mafia boss of the province of Agrigento by police investigators coordinated by Girolamo Di Fazio.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Italian mafia boss arrested in France, BBC News, 26 June 2010
  2. ^ (in Italian) I latitanti Falsone e Messina al vertice di cosa nostra agrigentina, Televideo Agrigento, 10 November 2007
  3. ^ (in Italian) Relazione del Ministro dell’Interno al Parlamento sull’attività svolta e sui risultati conseguiti dalla Direzione Investigativa Antimafia Archived 2009-11-16 at the Wayback Machine 1° semestre 2007
  4. ^ (in Italian) E dopo Bernardo Provenzano?, Girodivite, 25 May 2005
  5. ^ a b c d (in Italian) Ecco le accuse dell'Antimafia ai Falsone, La Sicilia, 13 March 2003
  6. ^ (in Italian) Rapporto annuale sul fenomeno della criminalità organizzata anno 2002 Archived 2006-05-11 at the Wayback Machine, Ministero dell’Interno
  7. ^ a b (in Italian) Agrigento, arrestato latitante pluriomicida[permanent dead link‍], La Sicilia, 26 November 2006
  8. ^ (in Italian) I boss "camaleontici" degli appalti, Ateneonline, 6 March 2007
  9. ^ (in Italian) Mafia, confisca di beni per 2 milioni di euro[permanent dead link‍], La Sicilia, 5 August 2004
  10. ^ (in Italian) Il Codice Provenzano non ha più segreti, La Repubblica, 18 December 2007
  11. ^ (in Italian) Ad un passo dal Capo, Falsone, Teleacras Agrigento, 16 June 2008
  12. ^ a b (in Italian) Mafia, catturato in Francia Falsone, La Repubblica, 25 June 2010