Francesco Di Carlo
Encyclopedia
Francesco Di Carlo is a member of the Mafia
who turned state witness (pentito
- a mafioso turned informer) in 1996. He has been accused of being the killer of the Roberto Calvi
– nicknamed "God's banker" because he was in charge of Banco Ambrosiano
and his close association with the Vatican Bank
.
Mafia family in 1966 by the boss at the time, Salvatore La Barbera (not to be confused with the Palermo Centro boss
who was killed in 1963). He became capo famiglia in the mid 1970s. Altofonte was part of the mandamento
of San Giuseppe Jato
, headed by Antonio Salamone
and Bernardo Brusca
. According to the pentito
Giuseppe Marchese
, Di Carlo was an influential mafioso and a very competent drug trafficker connected with the Corleonesi
.
Di Carlo is described as an elegant and intelligent mafioso who received an education at the prestigious Jesuit college of Gonzaga in Palermo
where he met the prince Alessandro Vanni Calvello, who would be best man at his marriage. Di Carlo and Vanni Calvello were partners in the nightclub "Il Castello" in San Nicola Arena, just outside Palermo on the highway to Messina. The club was popular with the beau monde of Palermo, visiting concerts of Ray Charles
and Amanda Lear
. However, during the day the Mafia used it as a meeting place.
. Because of his useful contributions for the Mafia he was not killed, but had to leave Italy. He moved to London
. His brother Andrea Di Carlo took over the command of the Mafia family and became a member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission
.
According to Di Carlo he was expelled in 1982 because he refused to betray some members of the Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan (Pasquale Cuntrera and Alfonso Caruana
) – during the Mafia war in the province of Agrigento
that ran parallel to the Second Mafia War
in Palermo
. Mafia boss Carmelo Colletti, connected with the Corleonesi
, had taken over the command after killing Giuseppe Settecasi and his lieutenant Leonardo Caruana. He wanted the other Cuntrera’s and Caruana’s out of the way as well. However, it was Colletti who was killed in 1983.
Di Carlo was involved in hashish and heroin trafficking. He bought a mansion in Woking
, in Surrey, in the stockbrokers-belt near London. In the UK he teamed up with Alfonso Caruana
. Di Carlo created an infrastructure to facilitate the smuggling operations: he owned a hotel, travel agencies and import-export companies.
In June 1985 British Custom & Excise and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) seized 58 kilograms of heroin in a controlled delivery. In the UK, Di Carlo was arrested with three others. In March 1987 Di Carlo was convicted to a 25-year prison sentence for heroin trafficking. Alfonso Caruana
’s brother Gerlando Caruana was convicted in Canada.
". Di Carlo mentioned several politicians to be members of Cosa Nostra, among others: the Christian Democrat politician Bernardo Mattarella
, the former president of Sicily Giovanni Provenzano, and Giovanni Musotto, father of Francesco Musotto
, former president of the Province of Palermo
who has been accused of Mafia association.
He also testified about the murder of journalist Mauro De Mauro
. The investiagtive reporter had been kidnapped and killed by the Mafia in 1970. Di Carlo testified in 2001 that De Mauro was killed because he had learned that one of his former fascist friends, Prince Junio Valerio Borghese
, was planning a coup d'état (the so-called Golpe Borghese
) with like-minded army officers determined to stop what they considered as Italy's drift to the left. Di Carlo became an important witness in numerous antimafia trials and also testified in the trials against former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti
and Silvio Berlusconi
’s right hand man Marcello Dell'Utri
.
He wanted to move to Canada as part of an international agreement that allows him to be relocated almost anywhere in the world. In an exclusive interview with W-FIVE
, Di Carlo confirms the allegation that the Sicilian Mafia considers Canada to be the best place in the world to conduct their criminal businesses. In November 2000, Di Carlo spoke to W-FIVE in hopes of sending a message to Alfonso Caruana
. During his interview he revealed that the high council of the Mafia had ordered Di Carlo to murder Caruana, who had fallen out of favour. Di Carlo refused, saving Alfonso's life, but putting his own in danger. Di Carlo wants the Caruana's to remember this life-saving favour.
claimed that Di Carlo had killed Roberto Calvi
– nicknamed "God's banker" because he was in charge of Banco Ambrosiano
, in which the Vatican Bank
was the main share-holder. Calvi had been killed because he had lost Mafia funds when Banco Ambrosiano collapsed. The order to kill Calvi had come from Mafia boss Giuseppe Calò
.
When Di Carlo became state witness in June 1996, he denied that he was the killer, but admitted that he had been approached by Calò to do the job. However, Di Carlo could not be reached in time, and when he later called Calò, the latter said that everything had been taken care of already. According to Di Carlo, the killers were Vincenzo Casillo
and Sergio Vaccari, who belonged to the Camorra
from Naples and have been killed since.
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
who turned state witness (pentito
Pentito
Pentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...
- a mafioso turned informer) in 1996. He has been accused of being the killer of the Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...
– nicknamed "God's banker" because he was in charge of Banco Ambrosiano
Banco Ambrosiano
Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank which collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due...
and his close association with the Vatican Bank
Vatican Bank
The Institute for Works of Religion , commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held institute located inside Vatican City run by a professional bank CEO who reports directly to a committee of cardinals, and ultimately to the Pope...
.
Early career
Di Carlo was initiated in the AltofonteAltofonte
Altofonte is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 9 km southwest of Palermo....
Mafia family in 1966 by the boss at the time, Salvatore La Barbera (not to be confused with the Palermo Centro boss
Salvatore La Barbera
Salvatore La Barbera was a Sicilian mafioso. Together with his brother Angelo La Barbera he ruled the Mafia family of Palermo Centro. Salvatore La Barbera sat on the first Sicilian Mafia Commission that was set up in 1958 as the capo mandamento for Mafia families of Borgo Vecchio, Porta Nuova and...
who was killed in 1963). He became capo famiglia in the mid 1970s. Altofonte was part of the mandamento
Mandamento
Historically a mandamento was the part of Italian territory under the jurisdiction of a "pretore" which is a kind of magistrate. These divisions were abolished in 1923....
of San Giuseppe Jato
San Giuseppe Jato
San Giuseppe Jato is a village in the Province of Palermo in Sicily, southern Italy.The village sits in a hilly region of Palermo's hinterland, 31 km from the Sicilian capital.-History:...
, headed by Antonio Salamone
Antonio Salamone
Antonio Salamone was a member of the Sicilian Mafia and a member of the first Sicilian Mafia Commission. His nickname was “il furbo” – the shrewd one.-Mafia heritage:...
and Bernardo Brusca
Giovanni Brusca
Giovanni Brusca is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia. He murdered the anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone in 1992 and once stated that he had committed between 100 and 200 murders but was unable to remember the exact number...
. According to the pentito
Pentito
Pentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...
Giuseppe Marchese
Giuseppe Marchese
Giuseppe Marchese was a member of the Sicilian Mafia, who turned state witness . Giuseppe Pino Marchese was born in Palermo. His father Vincenzo Marchese was a powerful Mafia boss and his uncle Filippo Marchese was the head of the Corso dei Mille Mafia family.-Early Mafia career:He learned the...
, Di Carlo was an influential mafioso and a very competent drug trafficker connected with the Corleonesi
Corleonesi
The Corleonesi is the name given to a faction within the Sicilian Mafia that dominated Cosa Nostra in the 1980s and the 1990s. It was called the Corleonesi because its most important leaders came from the town of Corleone, first Luciano Leggio and later Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano and Leoluca...
.
Di Carlo is described as an elegant and intelligent mafioso who received an education at the prestigious Jesuit college of Gonzaga in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
where he met the prince Alessandro Vanni Calvello, who would be best man at his marriage. Di Carlo and Vanni Calvello were partners in the nightclub "Il Castello" in San Nicola Arena, just outside Palermo on the highway to Messina. The club was popular with the beau monde of Palermo, visiting concerts of Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
and Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....
. However, during the day the Mafia used it as a meeting place.
Expelled from Cosa Nostra
Di Carlo was expelled (posato) from Cosa Nostra, because of a conflict about a lost shipment of heroin or an unpaid consignment of hashishHashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
. Because of his useful contributions for the Mafia he was not killed, but had to leave Italy. He moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. His brother Andrea Di Carlo took over the command of the Mafia family and became a member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission
Sicilian Mafia Commission
The Sicilian Mafia Commission, known as Commissione or Cupola, is a body of leading Mafia members to decide on important questions concerning the actions of, and settling disputes within the Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra...
.
According to Di Carlo he was expelled in 1982 because he refused to betray some members of the Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan (Pasquale Cuntrera and Alfonso Caruana
Alfonso Caruana
Alfonso Caruana is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and was the head of the Sicilian Cuntrera-Caruana family branch in Canada. He acquired Canadian nationality in 1978....
) – during the Mafia war in the province of Agrigento
Province of Agrigento
Agrigento is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. It has an area of 3,042 km², and a total population of 454,370...
that ran parallel to the Second Mafia War
Second Mafia War
The Second Mafia War was a conflict within the Sicilian Mafia, mostly taking place in the early 1980s. As with any criminal organization, the history of the Sicilian Mafia is replete with conflicts and power struggles, and the violence that results from them, but these are generally localised and...
in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
. Mafia boss Carmelo Colletti, connected with the Corleonesi
Corleonesi
The Corleonesi is the name given to a faction within the Sicilian Mafia that dominated Cosa Nostra in the 1980s and the 1990s. It was called the Corleonesi because its most important leaders came from the town of Corleone, first Luciano Leggio and later Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano and Leoluca...
, had taken over the command after killing Giuseppe Settecasi and his lieutenant Leonardo Caruana. He wanted the other Cuntrera’s and Caruana’s out of the way as well. However, it was Colletti who was killed in 1983.
Drug trafficking
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Di Carlo was involved in hashish and heroin trafficking. He bought a mansion in Woking
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
, in Surrey, in the stockbrokers-belt near London. In the UK he teamed up with Alfonso Caruana
Alfonso Caruana
Alfonso Caruana is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and was the head of the Sicilian Cuntrera-Caruana family branch in Canada. He acquired Canadian nationality in 1978....
. Di Carlo created an infrastructure to facilitate the smuggling operations: he owned a hotel, travel agencies and import-export companies.
In June 1985 British Custom & Excise and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
(RCMP) seized 58 kilograms of heroin in a controlled delivery. In the UK, Di Carlo was arrested with three others. In March 1987 Di Carlo was convicted to a 25-year prison sentence for heroin trafficking. Alfonso Caruana
Alfonso Caruana
Alfonso Caruana is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and was the head of the Sicilian Cuntrera-Caruana family branch in Canada. He acquired Canadian nationality in 1978....
’s brother Gerlando Caruana was convicted in Canada.
Pentito
In June 1996 Di Carlo decided to collaborate with the Italian authorities. He was transferred from his UK prison to Rome. He was hailed as the "new BuscettaTommaso Buscetta
Tommaso Buscetta was a Sicilian mafioso. Although he was not the first pentito in the Italian witness protection program, he is widely recognized as the first important one breaking omertà...
". Di Carlo mentioned several politicians to be members of Cosa Nostra, among others: the Christian Democrat politician Bernardo Mattarella
Bernardo Mattarella
Bernardo Mattarella was an Italian politician for the Christian Democrat party . He has been Minister of Italy several times...
, the former president of Sicily Giovanni Provenzano, and Giovanni Musotto, father of Francesco Musotto
Francesco Musotto
Francesco Musotto is an Italian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Islands...
, former president of the Province of Palermo
Province of Palermo
The Province of Palermo is a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Palermo. The Province of Palermo has 82 comuni , 1,239,272 inhabitants, and is 4,992 km² .-External links:...
who has been accused of Mafia association.
He also testified about the murder of journalist Mauro De Mauro
Mauro De Mauro
Mauro De Mauro was an Italian journalist. He disappeared in September 1970 and his body has not yet been found. His disappearance and probable death remains one of the unsolved mysteries in Italian history.Several explanations for his disappearance are current...
. The investiagtive reporter had been kidnapped and killed by the Mafia in 1970. Di Carlo testified in 2001 that De Mauro was killed because he had learned that one of his former fascist friends, Prince Junio Valerio Borghese
Junio Valerio Borghese
Prince Junio Valerio Scipione Borghese was an Italian Navy commander during the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and was a prominent hard-line fascist politician in post-war Italy.-Early career:Junio Valerio Borghese was born in Artena, Province of Rome, Kingdom of Italy...
, was planning a coup d'état (the so-called Golpe Borghese
Golpe Borghese
The Golpe Borghese was a failed Italian coup d'état allegedly planned for the night of 7 or 8 December 1970. It was named after Junio Valerio Borghese, an Italian World War II commander of the notorious Xª MAS unit, the "Black Prince", convicted of war crimes, but still a hero in the eyes of many...
) with like-minded army officers determined to stop what they considered as Italy's drift to the left. Di Carlo became an important witness in numerous antimafia trials and also testified in the trials against former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
and Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
’s right hand man Marcello Dell'Utri
Marcello Dell'Utri
Marcello Dell'Utri is an influential Italian politician and senior advisor to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi...
.
He wanted to move to Canada as part of an international agreement that allows him to be relocated almost anywhere in the world. In an exclusive interview with W-FIVE
W-FIVE
W5 is a Canadian news magazine television series produced by CTV News. The program is currently initially broadcast Saturday nights at 7 p.m...
, Di Carlo confirms the allegation that the Sicilian Mafia considers Canada to be the best place in the world to conduct their criminal businesses. In November 2000, Di Carlo spoke to W-FIVE in hopes of sending a message to Alfonso Caruana
Alfonso Caruana
Alfonso Caruana is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and was the head of the Sicilian Cuntrera-Caruana family branch in Canada. He acquired Canadian nationality in 1978....
. During his interview he revealed that the high council of the Mafia had ordered Di Carlo to murder Caruana, who had fallen out of favour. Di Carlo refused, saving Alfonso's life, but putting his own in danger. Di Carlo wants the Caruana's to remember this life-saving favour.
Involvement in Roberto Calvi murder
In July 1991 the pentito Francesco Marino MannoiaFrancesco Marino Mannoia
Francesco Marino Mannoia is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia who became a pentito in 1989. His nickname was Mozzarella. He is considered to be one of the most reliable government witnesses against the Mafia...
claimed that Di Carlo had killed Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...
– nicknamed "God's banker" because he was in charge of Banco Ambrosiano
Banco Ambrosiano
Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank which collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due...
, in which the Vatican Bank
Vatican Bank
The Institute for Works of Religion , commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held institute located inside Vatican City run by a professional bank CEO who reports directly to a committee of cardinals, and ultimately to the Pope...
was the main share-holder. Calvi had been killed because he had lost Mafia funds when Banco Ambrosiano collapsed. The order to kill Calvi had come from Mafia boss Giuseppe Calò
Giuseppe Calò
Giuseppe 'Pippo' Calò is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was referred to as the "Mafia's Cashier" because he was heavily involved in the financial side of organized crime, primarily money laundering....
.
When Di Carlo became state witness in June 1996, he denied that he was the killer, but admitted that he had been approached by Calò to do the job. However, Di Carlo could not be reached in time, and when he later called Calò, the latter said that everything had been taken care of already. According to Di Carlo, the killers were Vincenzo Casillo
Vincenzo Casillo
Vincenzo Casillo was an Italian Camorrista and the second in command of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata , a Camorra organization in Naples. His nickname was "'o Nirone" .-Second in Command:...
and Sergio Vaccari, who belonged to the Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
from Naples and have been killed since.