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11 Jan 2012 10:00

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World: “Italy’s biggest bank”: The Mafia’s massive profits amid Italian turmoil

  • 140 billion the amount of financial turnover the Mafia had in 2011, according to anti-crime group SOS Impresa
  • 100 billion the amount in profits the Italian crime group had; SOS Impresa says this makes them Italy’s biggest bank source
  • » Not your father’s Mafia: The anti-crime group says in an annual report that organized crime is becoming increasingly more organized, leading to as many as 200,000 business tied to extortionate lenders and leading to profits equivalent to 7 percent of the entire country’s national output. “The classic neighborhood or street loan shark is on the way out,” the group says in its report, “giving way to organized loan-sharking that is well connected with professional circles and operates with the connivance of high-level professionals.”

13 Jul 2010 23:13

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World: Mafia Wars, lost: An Italian crime family gets overwhelmed by cops

  • 300+ number of members of the massive ‘Ndrangheta crime family were arrested today
  • 3,000+ number of police it took to nail most of them (not bad for a day’s work, boys; not bad at all) source

06 Jul 2010 10:24

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World: Shocker of the day: Sumo apparently has a seedy underworld

  • bad Some of the sport’s athletes have been caught smoking marijuana and rigging matches.
  • worse A 17-year-old novice wrestler was fatally beaten, which doesn’t sound very friendly at all.
  • worser At least 19 wrestlers have been caught gambling on baseball with organized criminals. source

28 Jan 2010 21:12

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World: Silvio Berlusconi, fresh off Nosegate, wants to take on the Mafia

We almost don’t recognize him without the blood all over his face. Anyway, he’s trashing on portrayals of Italians as gangsters, which is hypocritical ’cause he looks like one. source

08 Mar 2009 21:34

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Tech, World: Is film piracy linked to organized crime and terrorism? Maybe.

  • Given the enormous profit margins, it’s no surprise that organized crime has moved into film piracy. The profits are high, and penalties for being caught are relatively low.
  • Greg Treverton • Lead author of a report on how organized crime and piracy go hand-in-hand. He’s also the director of RAND Corp.’s Center for Global Risk and Security. The study was sponsored by – surprise – the Motion Picture Association, the international arm of the Motion Picture Association of America. The study also linked terrorism and piracy. • source

21 Jan 2009 10:28

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Offbeat: Facebook, married to the Mafia?

  • Italian authorities say maybe. Authorities in the boot-shaped country are taking special interest in pages and groups set up to honor jailed Mafiosi on Facebook. “These are people who are accused of serious crimes and are in prison,” noted Rita Borsellino, whose brother Paolo spent his life investigating the Cosa Nostra before getting killed in a hit. OK, OK, she’s right, it’s not fun like The Sopranos. But can we at least pretend? source