Study: Amid crisis, Mafia is Italy’s “largest bank” for investment

Rome – Italy’s financial crisis is allowing organized crime to flourish, with mafia clans having become the country’s ‘largest bank’ for investing thanks to cash supplies totalling 65 billion euros (82.7 billion dollars) according to a report presented Tuesday.

Mafia activities – including those of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra, Naples’ Camorra and the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta – represent an annual turnover of 140 billion euros, according to the report commissioned by Italy’s main shopowners’ association, Confesercenti.

‘In this moment of crisis, the ‘Mafia SpA’ (Mafia Incorporated) is the only entrepreneurial group which can make investments,’ Confesercenti President Marco Venturi said.

He was commenting on the report by SOS Impresa – a think tank that offers business consulting services – which estimates that mafia involvement in the commercial sector amounts to 100 billion euros, or 7 per cent of Italy’s annual gross domestic product.

For many Italian businesses, which have seen sales decline as the country faces economic recession, collaborating with organized criminals ‘can make the difference between being able to continue operating or exiting the market on a permanent basis,’ Venturi said.

He also warned that mafia clans were spreading their activities from their traditional base in Italy’s underdeveloped South to the country’s industrialized North.

‘They now almost entirely control the gambling sector – also the legal one – the disposal of toxic waste, as well as large parts of the building sector,’ Venturi said.

Mafia clans are also moving into ‘non-traditional’ sectors, including health service, sports, road transport services, Venturi said.

Mafia involvement in the trucking business is partly to blame for the recent tripling in the price of fruit and vegetables, according to Italy’s main farmers association, Coldiretti.

Source: monstersandcritics.com

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Tags: Annual Turnover, Business Consulting Services, Calabrian, Camorra, Commercial Sector, Cosa Nostra, Disposal Of Toxic Waste, Economic Recession, Entrepreneurial Group, Fruit And Vegetables, Italian Businesses, Mafia Involvement, President Marco, Price Of Fruit, Road Transport Services, Rome Italy, Service Sports, Traditional Sectors, Trucking Business, Venturi

Category: General, Sicilian Mafia/Ndrangheta