Toronto man denies role in Mafia war (Deportation sought)
A Toronto-area businessman denied being a member of the Mafia as he fought deportation to Italy yesterday over a conviction for holding a stash of guns during a savage mob war that stretched across the Atlantic.
Immigration officials are seeking to deport Carlo Figliomeni, 42, of Woodbridge, north of Toronto, saying he is no longer eligible to live in Canada because of his membership in a criminal organization and because of his gun conviction in Italy. At an admissibility hearing in Toronto before the Immigration and Refugee Board, Mr. Figliomeni’s family and his gun cache were both linked to a Mafia vendetta that claimed dozens of victims in Italy and Canada. Mr. Figliomeni came to Canada on Jan. 29, 1988, where he lived with his wife and his in-laws before starting a family of his own and becoming a permanent resident.
Trouble started for Mr. Figliomeni when he returned to visit his family in Locri, a village in southern Italy. It was a difficult time in the area as a vendetta raged between two powerful crime families, the Commisso clan and the Costa clan. On June 14, 1991, Italian police found Mr. Figliomeni with a cache of illegal guns in his parent’s barn.
There were several illegal and unregistered shotguns, some of which were stolen and had their serial numbers removed, ammunition and an item that caused debate at the hearing over the proper translation from the Italian; it was either a rocket launcher or a flare gun. Mr. Figliomeni was convicted of illegal possession of the guns and sentenced to two years and two months in prison. He was also convicted of Mafia association.
The Italian court said there was suspicion he was a soldier in the Commisso clan because of who he associated with, his use of a bulletproof car and his criminal record. This Mafiaassociation conviction was overturned on appeal for Mr. Figliomeni but it was upheld against some of his relatives, including Riccardo “Frank” Rumbo.
Rumbo, a Commisso clan hit man, gained notoriety in Canada when he travelled from Italy to Toronto and found one of the last male members of the rival Costa clan living here with his wife and three young children. On June 26, 1991, Giovanni Costa, 38, was driving near his home when Rumbo pushed a shotgun from the window of a passing car and killed him. Rumbo fled back to Italy but did not escape justice. In 1996 he was sentenced to 30 years for the Toronto murder after three Canadian police officers testified in an Italian court.
The feud claimed more than 35 lives and Andrew Rustja of the Canada Border Services Agency linked the bloodshed to Mr. Figliomeni’s guns. “There were a number shootings just prior to Mr. Figliomeni being arrested on the gun possession charge,” said Mr. Rustja at the hearing. “Mr. Figliomeni was mainly involved in the storage of illegal firearms and the transportation of illegal firearms.
“The modus operandi of the Italian Mafia is using these types of weapons for killing people. Even the murder in Canada was done with a shotgun.”
After his prison term, Mr. Figliomeni returned to Canada and seemed to avoid attention until he applied for Canadian citizenship in 2003.
The hearing heard of a visit to Mr. Figliomeni’s home in 2005 by a York Regional Police officer during which Mr. Figliomeni seemed to concede he was in the mob, according to Detective Alan Cooke. He allegedly told Det. Cooke: “When they tell you to do something, you do it,” the hearing heard.
As a group, the organization is involved in murder, attempted murder, money laundering, kidnapping and drugs, according to Det. Cooke.
He said that Mr. Figliomeni was never a high-ranking member and police are not certain he remains a member.
Casually dressed and nursing a broken thumb that was wrapped in a plaster cast, Mr. Figliomeni remained quiet at yesterday’s hearing, although he testified through an Italian translator at a previous hearing date. Through his counsellor he denied the allegations and any connection to the mob war.
“At no time has he ever been a member of any of these organizations and has never been through a ceremony to become such,” said Michael Caden.
IRB adjudicator Mary Heyes reserved her decision.
Source: National Post
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And this whole war started over somelemons thrown at one group from the other during a local festival? Can’t see that ever happening between American groups.