Posted on 09/21/2012 6:19:30 AM PDT by AtlasStalled
It's not your grandpa's Mafia anymore.
The Charbonneau Commission is conducting hearings to confront allegations that wise guys and dirty politicians are in bed together in the award of public works contracts in Montreal, QB Canada, and yesterday veteran detective Mike Amato from neigboring Ontario testified about the reach of the Italian Mafia in his province as reported by CBC News: "the veteran officer says the modern-day Mafioso is dressed in business suits, works 9-to-5 hours and holds jobs ranging from banker, to accountant to bus driver," and "Mafia-controlled legitimate businesses in his region include everything from garden centres to financial institutions to banquet halls."
The reliance upon an extensive network of so-called legitimate businesses is two-fold. It enables the wise guys to fly under law enforcement radar by posing as ordinary citizens, and further allows them to launder cash from illicit rackets including drug trafficking and book making.
Sneaky mobsters.
Apparently "construction-related industries like trucking, home-building and excavation" are among the mob's favorites according to Amato, and he further testified "that these businesses are difficult to compete against because they are infused with illegal cash": "'how can you compete against someone where it doesn't matter if he turns a profit on the job,' said Amato."
The 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia is the dominant Italian crime group in Ontario.
Amato further confirmed the axiom that organized crime cannot exist without public corruption, and he testified: "if you accept it [the Mafia] exists you have to accept that public corruption exists because if you don't have public corruption it [the Mafia] can’t exist by sheer virtue of its mandate."
YIKES! I’m Calabrian, and had Banquet and Restaurant businesses.. gulp
Mr Amato, Il mio buon amico, I am a bit offended that I’m not in on the take, ...yet!!.. :)
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