Codes of dishonour

WHEN six Italian men were gunned down outside a pizzeria in the German city of Duisburg nearly two years ago, the massacre was immediately recognised as a vendetta, the latest chapter in a deadly feud between two clans in Italy’s southern region of Calabria.
The victims, aged between 16 and 39 had been shot more than [...]

Russian’s Organized Crime Heritage Paved Way For Cybercrime

Russia’s longstanding history with organized crime has nurtured a current crop of sophisticated cybercrime organizations dedicated to information stealing and political “hacktivism.”
During a BlackHat USA 2009 presentation, Dmitri Alperovitch, McAfee Internet threat researcher, said that Russia’s history of organized crime has paved the way for the emergence of highly sophisticated cybercrime [...]

Wiretaps show mobster still dangerous

Even at age 85, reputed mobster Sam Volpendesto clearly has a soft spot for the days when Al Capone was boss in Chicago’s ruthless mob scene. In wiretap recordings released by federal prosecutors Monday, he seems to delight in telling how he lived among “very dangerous people” and watched one mobster [...]

John A. (Junior) Gotti’s kidney stones plea rolled over

A Manhattan federal judge doesn’t want to hear anymore of John A. (Junior) Gotti’s whining about his kidney stones.
Judge Kevin Castel on Tuesday rejected Gotti’s request to delay the Sept. 14 start of the mob scion’s racketeering trial for 45 days.
Castel was not moved by lawyer Charles Carnesi’s claim that Gotti hasn’t been allowed to [...]

Reputed Russian ‘Godfather’ Wounded In Moscow

Moscow police say a gunman has wounded Vyacheslav Ivankov, whom U.S. prosecutors have called a godfather of Russian organized crime.
A police duty officer said that Ivankov was taken to the hospital with an abdomen wound after the Tuesday night shooting. The officer says on customary condition of anonymity that Ivankov was shot [...]

Mafia Assassin’s Sentencing This Week in Brooklyn

Sentencing is scheduled this week for Charles Carneglia, a Gambino crime family soldier who was convicted in March of racketeering, extortion and four gangland murders.
Though the feared Mafia assassin faces life in prison, Carneglia was acquitted of the most infamous of the murders for which he was charged — that of [...]

‘Mobster’ tells of body in meat grinder

A CHICAGO court has heard an elderly alleged mobster’s account of watching a mafia associate put a human body through a meat grinder.
At 85, Sam Volpendesto is seeking bail after being charged with a string of arson and robbery charges dating back to 2001.
Six years ago, Volpendesto used a pipe bomb to destroy [...]

Russia Frees Mafia Boss Wanted By U.S.

Russia has released a suspected organized crime boss who is wanted by the United States for alleged fraud and racketeering, the “Financial Times” has reported, citing his lawyer.
Semyon Mogilevich, who the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation says created a powerful crime group in Eastern Europe in the 1990s, was arrested in [...]

Have the Mafia moved to SA?

Organised crime syndicates, including Mafia organisations, are believed to have moved their financial operations to South Africa, says award-winning journalist John Grobler.
Grobler, who was speaking at a briefing on organised crime and money laundering at the Institute for Security Studies in Cape Town on Monday, said it was because money laundering [...]

Seattle Godfather Pleads Not Guilty

A month after a federal indictment was issued against them, Northwest strip club mogul Frank Colacurcio Sr. and five others involved in his businesses appeared in court Friday to answer charges of racketeering, money laundering and facilitation of prostitution.
Facing U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Donohue, Colacurcio, his son, Frank Colacurcio Jr., [...]

Next Page »