The Palermo mafia clans have managed to launder large sums of money thanks to compliant entrepreneurs and financial experts. Eleven people were arrested in the provinces of Trapani, Palermo, Como and Rimini - six are in prison with 5 under house arrest - at the end of an investigation by the Palermo DDA coordinated by the prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia and the Trapani carabinieri.
The investigation, which also led to 12 warnings, included historical figures of the Salemi mafia, loyal allies of the boss Matteo Messina Denaro, accused of having cleaned millions of euros and of having formed a solid alliance with the Calabrian 'ndrine. The suspects are variously accused of mafia, money laundering, auction rigging, fraudulent transfers of valuables and receiving stolen goods. One of the key figures in the investigation by the Carabinieri of the Trapani Investigative Unit is Angelo Salvatore, mafia boss of Salemi, already convicted of mafia association, entrepreneur who, according to the investigators, for years, managed Matteo Messina Denaro's investments in renewable energy. Released from prison in 2019, he returned to business, counting on the collaboration of his son Andrea. The two, thanks to their ability to recruit professionals in the sector and to illegally penetrate the IT systems of banks, put together a criminal group - say the investigators - capable of laundering huge sums of money from the Palermo gangs.
The organization also allegedly tried to acquire, by reinvesting dirty money, 12 Coop Sicilia outlets (but the deal later fell through); to launder foreign lire on behalf of the 'ndrangheta and to clean up the money of Calogero JohnLuppino, the king of clandestine online betting, another loyalist of the former fugitive.