Police probes, Mafia allegations in the ‘Palermo’ of Canada
Ingrid Peritz
Montreal — From Friday’s Globe and Mail Published on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 9:25PM EDT
Last updated on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 11:54AM EDT
(…) Veteran observers say organized crime has been adept at making inroads into legitimate circles in cities worldwide. Antonio Nicaso, a Toronto-based author and specialist on the Mafia, says some mobsters have used construction and other industries as a “cover” to gain access to lucrative public-sector contracts.
“Bricks, real-estate and construction were always the sectors the Mafia used to invest the proceeds of crime,” he said. While the mob operates this way in cities around the world, it has found especially “fertile ground” in Montreal, he said.
“In Montreal, the Mafia is well entrenched in society, they don’t live on the outside at the margins. The real Mafia dresses in suits and attends meetings in boardrooms,” he said.
