Provenzano: The Phantom Of Corleone

Steve Kroft Reports On The Mafia's Influence In Italy

(CBS)  The police estimate that up to 80 percent of businesses in Sicily pay protection money to the mafia. It has infiltrated universities and hospitals and other institutions where there is public money to be stolen. If you dig a tunnel, build a bridge or an apartment building in Sicily, La Cosa Nostra and Provenzano would demand up to 10 percent, and share the profits with corrupt officials, who almost always returned the favor.

"We know for example that Provenzano, who had some medical problems, was able to be treated in France," Stille says.

Provenzano, Stille says, left the country on a phony passport. "If you can convince people that – 'I can kill you at any time, anywhere, and I can kill your children,' I can get you to do a lot of things," Stille says.

For years, Provenzano managed to live undisturbed in the Palermo suburb called Bagaria, slipping in and out of the downtown area, where he kept an office next to a driving school. But when Italian police stepped up the pressure, he took up residence in a series of safe houses, moving around Sicily like a ghost.

The Italian police spent eight years trying to infiltrate the courier network that dispatched Provanzeno’s orders from village to village, and they bugged the phones of his subordinates, taping thousands of phone calls. Every time they got close, someone on the inside tipped off the mafia. One of them was the police officer who planted the bugs.

"We discovered leaks in our office, people who were leaking about the investigation," says Grasso.

"What were some of the institutions that had been compromised?" Kroft asks.

"Some were in the police force. Some worked with us inside the prosecutor's office," he replies.

"A couple of police investigators who played very important roles in investigations in Sicily in the last 10 years were people who were arrested for collusion with the mafia. So when you have those kinds of connections within law enforcement and within seats of power, you're obviously much more dangerous and much harder to capture," says Stille.

And one of those connections to the seats of power is none other than Salvatore Cuffaro, the governor of Sicily, who is now facing criminal charges for his associations with the mafia.

"He's accused of aiding and abetting the mafia, of revealing confidential information," says Rita Borsellino, a leader of the anti-mafia forces in Sicily.

Her brother, Paolo, was Sicily’s top anti-mafia prosecutor when he was assassinated by a bomb blast in 1992. It set off waves of arrests and the trial of hundreds mafia figures, but it has not diminished either the power or the political influence of La Cosa Nostra in Sicily. Rita Borsellino ran against Salvatore Cuffaro, while the governor was facing mafia-related charges. None the less, she lost.

"Is that discouraging to you?" Kroft asks.

"If I let myself be discouraged by these things, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in politics. I did it in order to combat this corruption because this is exactly what it is. A politician in this situation shouldn't have even run for office," she says.

Governor Cuffaro maintains his innocence and continues to serve in office while he awaits trial. But Italian prosecutors say the mafia has far more powerful friends than a provincial governor, that its reach and influence extend not only into the corridors of power in Rome, but into the small circle of friends that surrounded former Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi. Senator Marcello Dell’Utri is now facing nine years in prison for his dealings with the mafia.

Before Senator Dell'Utri came to the Italian parliament, he had worked as Silvio Berlusconi's private secretary, lived in his private residence, and went on to run one of his companies, found his political party and manage his campaigns. In fact, the two men are so close Dell'Utri reportedly has space reserved for him in the Berlusconi family tomb.

"Imagine for a moment that Karl Rove was found to be in bed with the Banano crime family. And this person is put up for parliament, re-elected, still extremely influential," says Stille.

"And he's one of Berlusconi's right-hand men?" Kroft asks.

"Absolutely," says Stille.

One of the men who successfully prosecuted Senator Dell’Utri called him the conduit between the mafia and the former prime minister, and produced audio tapes and more than 30 witnesses to back up his claim.

"What we know for sure is that he was wire tapped talking to this or that gangster. He hired a very dangerous heroin dealer and thug to actually act as Berlusconi's chauffer and bodyguard during the 1970's. Driving Berlusconi’s kids to and from school at a time in which they were threatened with kidnapping. That suggests a much deeper kind of relationship," says Stille.

Senator Dell’Utri is appealing the conviction and declined to talk to 60 Minutes, but Kroft did speak with his lawyer, Nino Mormino.

[jecaiazzo]

I visit relatives(famiglia Castronovo)in Bagheria frequently, one of whom serves on the Nat'l Police and disclosed the revival of the Mafia 3 years ago, when 10-year jail sentences given to hundreds of mafiosi expired. They were back.

Your expose' disclosed the revival & I hope the att'n it generates pushes the gov't to do something. I was offended by one part of your expose that intimated that the Sicilian people willingly tolerate the Mafia in their midst. This is not true. The small business owners are the very victims of the extortion payments demanded. If one doesn't pay "u pizzu", their business gets burned to the ground. If they complain to the local police, they and their sons will be assasinated. So, if they do go to a Mafiosi to ask for a favor, it is because they are forced to go there. The legitimate government simply does not function.

Italy has RICO-type laws. The Federal Carab'i should investigate the Mafia, not locals.The prosecution should only rely on evidence collected by forensics, such as wiretaps and videotapes, augmented by the testimony of Mafiosi who can be made to talk because they are otherwise facing life sentences. This eliminates the need for the victims to testify.

PS: Arba Sicula (Sicilian Dawn) is an organization based @ St John's U. We are dedicated to spreading the 3,500 year old culture of the Island, of which the Mafia is but a footnote. Sicilians have proudly adopted the slogan "Ambasadors of Culture".

[peterzest-2009]

Sicily,Oh Sicily!
Another "Sicilian vespers" yet to come? I do not think so.
Now it would take an appeal to the European
Parliament or the United Nations to restore civil rights and democracy in Italy. The people alone cannot do it. Italians resident abroad cannot either. Italian political scenario is just too fragmented and all the major political parties from the right and left are in collusion with the mafia.
Enough of this Pirandellian farce. They all should hang!
Sicily ruined Athenian`s democracy in the Peloponnisian wars and will do the same to Rome now.

[branchoff]

Bravo! There are real investigative journalists still alive & well within the U.S. boarders.

NOW ... please use your brilliant skills to the same exuberance within the borders of the U.S. Particularly in the lobbyist-lobby of Washington D.C.!

The 'people' of this country look to journalists to guide them on the way of 'what's going on here'.

At 60 years, by my humble opinion, you in the journalist brigade have failed Miserably over the course of the last (especially 40 years). Maybe because of hush-hush topics not acceptable to the SPONSORS and $-bills to your part-of-the-problem parent corporation.

Peace,
Bill Fiala

Peace,
Bill Fiala

[emhawks]

I'm glad they caught the murderous thug. I despise the Mafia. May Provenzano spend what's left of his rotten, cursed life in prison watching his power & control slip slowly away.

[emhawks]

I'm glad they caught the murderous thug. I despise the Mafia. May Provenzano spend what's left of his rotten, cursed life in prison watching his power & control slip slowly away.

[emhawks]

I'm glad they caught the murderous thug. I despise the Mafia. May Provenzano spend what's left of his rotten, cursed life in prison watching his power & control slip slowly away.

[emhawks]

I'm glad they caught the murderous thug. I despise the Mafia. May Provenzano spend what's left of his rotten, cursed life in prison watching his power & control slip slowly away.

[giorgionyc]

A good report; particularly welcome was the focus on the nexus between the Sicilian Mafia and Italian politicians. In my book, An Offer We Can't Refuse: The Mafia in the Mind of America I discuss some differences between organized crime in the US and in Sicily. Whereas the American Cosa Nostra is in decline, the Italian Mafia (and non-Sicilian crime groups like Naples' camorre clans and Calabria's 'Ndrangheta) flourishes, thanks to its infiltration of the worlds of politics, business, and finance. There was one error, however in the report: 80 percent of Palermo businesses have been said to pay "protection" money ("il pizzo"), not 80 percent of all Sicilian businesses, as the report said. And I wish more had been said about the anti-mafia movement in Sicily. It was good that Rita Borsellino was interviewed, but what about Addiopizzo, an anti-mafia association led by young people, or the Libera association, which reclaims lands confiscated from the Mafia by the government? There is much more resistance to the Mafia than the 60 Minutes report included. Another omisssion: although the report linked former Italian PM Berlusconi to the Mafia, alliances between organized crime and conservative politicians and parties antedate Berlusconi. Moreover, the resistance to the Mafia has been led by parties and civic groups of the Left.

[giorgionyc]

A good report; particularly welcome was the focus on the nexus between the Sicilian Mafia and Italian politicians. In my book, An Offer We Can't Refuse: The Mafia in the Mind of America (Faber and Faber, 2006)I discuss some differences between organized crime in the US and in Sicily. Whereas the American Cosa Nostra is in decline, the Italian Mafia (and non-Sicilian crime groups like Naples' camorre clans and Calabria's 'Ndrangheta) flourishes, thanks to its infiltration of the worlds of politics, business, and finance. There was one error, however in the report: 80 percent of Palermo businesses have been said to pay "protection" money ("il pizzo"), not 80 percent of all Sicilian businesses, as the report said. And I wish more had been said about the anti-mafia movement in Sicily. It was good that Rita Borsellino was interviewed, but what about Addiopizzo, an anti-mafia association led by young people, or the Libera association, which reclaims lands confiscated from the Mafia by the government? There is much more resistance to the Mafia than the 60 Minutes report included. Another omisssion: although the report linked former Italian PM Berlusconi to the Mafia, alliances between organized crime and conservative politicians and parties antedate Berlusconi. Moreover, the resistance to the Mafia has been led by parties and civic groups of the Left.

[siculusugnu]

I realize how interesting the Mafia is to Americans and I don't condemn them for that. It does make for good television. Regarding 60 Minutes, I also understand that they report popular news and the capture of Provenzano was just that.
However I am EXTREMELY disappointed, as a Sicilian, that the only time I hear about Sicily on American television is when someone is talking about the Mafia.
When you talk about Tuscany it's for the beautiful landscape and wineries, Venice about its beautiful canals and glass blowers, Florence about its famous citizens,Rome about its history, but then Sicily and the Mafia.
Would it surprise the public to know that Sicily has ALL of these things mentioned above and much more! Sicily's culture is arguably the most rich and diverse of ALL of Italy and even Europe.
I would love to go into all of the reasons right now, but cannot. I do urge everyone to seek out information on the Sicilian people besides that of the Mafia. There is so much to appreciate!
-Micheli S.

[siculusugnu]

I realize how interesting the Mafia is to Americans and I don't condemn them for that. It does make for good television. Regarding 60 Minutes, I also understand that they report popular news and the capture of Provenzano was just that.
However I am EXTREMELY disappointed, as a Sicilian, that the only time I hear about Sicily on American television is when someone is talking about the Mafia.
When you talk about Tuscany it's for the beautiful landscape and wineries, Venice about its beautiful canals and glass blowers, Florence about its famous citizens,Rome about its history, but then Sicily and the Mafia.
Would it surprise the public to know that Sicily has ALL of these things mentioned above and much more! Sicily's culture is arguably the most rich and diverse of ALL of Italy and even Europe.
I would love to go into all of the reasons right now, but cannot. I do urge everyone to seek out information on the Sicilian people besides that of the Mafia. There is so much to appreciate!
-Micheli S.

[siculusugnu]

I realize how interesting the Mafia is to Americans and I don't condemn them for that. It does make for good television. Regarding 60 Minutes, I also understand that they report popular news and the capture of Provenzano was just that.
However I am EXTREMELY disappointed, as a Sicilian, that the only time I hear about Sicily on American television is when someone is talking about the Mafia.
When you talk about Tuscany it's for the beautiful landscape and wineries, Venice about its beautiful canals and glass blowers, Florence about its famous citizens,Rome about its history, but then Sicily and the Mafia.
Would it surprise the public to know that Sicily has ALL of these things mentioned above and much more! Sicily's culture is arguably the most rich and diverse of ALL of Italy and even Europe.
I would love to go into all of the reasons right now, but cannot. I do urge everyone to seek out information on the Sicilian people besides that of the Mafia. There is so much to appreciate!
-Micheli S.

[siculusugnu]

I realize how interesting the Mafia is to Americans and I don't condemn them for that. It does make for good television. Regarding 60 Minutes, I also understand that they report popular news and the capture of Provenzano was just that.
However I am EXTREMELY disappointed, as a Sicilian, that the only time I hear about Sicily on American television is when someone is talking about the Mafia.
When you talk about Tuscany it's for the beautiful landscape and wineries, Venice about its beautiful canals and glass blowers, Florence about its famous citizens,Rome about its history, but then Sicily and the Mafia.
Would it surprise the public to know that Sicily has ALL of these things mentioned above and much more! Sicily's culture is arguably the most rich and diverse of ALL of Italy and even Europe.
I would love to go into all of the reasons right now, but cannot. I do urge everyone to seek out information on the Sicilian people besides that of the Mafia. There is so much to appreciate!
-Micheli S.

[graziesiculi]

Unhappy with the way things have been going in Italy? Tired of scandal and corruption, and people saying the republic has gone the way of New Orleans? Well things could be much worse. All you have to do is look at present day Washington, and the United States, where the KKK with its friends in business and government still forms one of the country's biggest enterprises. Two term President Bush calls it "staying the course."

[graziesiculi]

Unhappy with the way things have been going in Italy? Tired of scandal and corruption, and people saying the republic has gone the way of New Orleans? Well things could be much worse. All you have to do is look at present day Washington, and the United States, where the KKK with its friends in business and government still forms one of the country's biggest enterprises. Two term President Bush calls it "staying the course."