Gazzetta del Sud: “Mario Gennaro controls operations for and on behalf of the ‘Ndrangheta”

Mario Gennaro is one of those arrested in Malta last Wednesday for extradition to Italy. He and his wife lived in Malta, first at Pendergardens and then at Tal-Ibrag, and hold Maltese identity cards. From the Gazzetta del Sud, the day before yesterday:

Colonel Lorenzo Falferi says of Mario Gennaro: “It is he who controls operations for and on behalf of the ‘Ndrangheta. It is clear that at some point he decided to think in business terms. In a wiretapped telephone conversation he was told that he should behave as the CEO and everyone must answer to him. He was the single point of contact and he was the one who decided where and how to set up the gaming centres according to territory.”

Colonel Alexander Barbera says: “By setting up a ‘screen’ of businesses they have circumvented the law, using the profits from those businesses to acquire more (gaming) licences, also outside Italy.” He describes how €20,000 were found in the washing-machine at the home of a suspect, commenting: “He was laundering his money”.

Colonel Gaetano Scillia says how the investigating judge described Domenico Lagrotteria “as the chief of this operation in Italy, acting in synergy with Mario Gennaro. Lagrotteria, an expert in gaming, decided to transfer the seat of operations control first to Malaga and then to Malta”.