Corrupt politics helped us thrive: mafia boss
The Camorra mafia was only partially responsible for its crimes and was helped by a corrupt system, involving politicians from all political stripes, a mafia boss turned state witness has said.
In the first revelations from Antonio Iovine, a former head of the Camorra mafia’s Casalesi clan, politicians from across the spectrum are blamed for organized crime in Italy’s southern Campania region.
“I know very well the crimes with which I am stained. But the Camorra is not the only one responsible,” Iovine was quoted in Corriere del Mezzogiorno as saying.
His statements to investigators were presented as evidence at the start of the trial of Enrico Fabozzi, a former Democratic Party (PD) counsellor accused of mafia ties.
Iovine said relations between politicians and criminals was normalized in “a system that was completely corrupt”.
“The political colour of a mayor made no difference because the system operated in the same way,” he said.
The former Camorra criminal spent 14 years on the run before being jailed in 2010, with prosecutors announcing he had begun to reveal his past last week.
Operating as the mafia clan’s “finance minister”, Iovine is thought to have a key insight into the workings and key players of the criminal underworld.
Roberto Saviano, a journalist whose work has led him to need protection from the mafia, said last week that Iovine’s revelations “could change everything”.
“The news risks changing the acquaintances between business people and organized crime forever,” Saviano wrote in La Repubblica newspaper.
READ MORE: Mafia secrets will make Italy's elite 'tremble'
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In the first revelations from Antonio Iovine, a former head of the Camorra mafia’s Casalesi clan, politicians from across the spectrum are blamed for organized crime in Italy’s southern Campania region.
“I know very well the crimes with which I am stained. But the Camorra is not the only one responsible,” Iovine was quoted in Corriere del Mezzogiorno as saying.
His statements to investigators were presented as evidence at the start of the trial of Enrico Fabozzi, a former Democratic Party (PD) counsellor accused of mafia ties.
Iovine said relations between politicians and criminals was normalized in “a system that was completely corrupt”.
“The political colour of a mayor made no difference because the system operated in the same way,” he said.
The former Camorra criminal spent 14 years on the run before being jailed in 2010, with prosecutors announcing he had begun to reveal his past last week.
Operating as the mafia clan’s “finance minister”, Iovine is thought to have a key insight into the workings and key players of the criminal underworld.
Roberto Saviano, a journalist whose work has led him to need protection from the mafia, said last week that Iovine’s revelations “could change everything”.
“The news risks changing the acquaintances between business people and organized crime forever,” Saviano wrote in La Repubblica newspaper.
READ MORE: Mafia secrets will make Italy's elite 'tremble'
Don't miss a story about Italy - Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
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