Lodovico Ligato was an Italian Christian Democrat

Christian Democracy (Italy)

Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....

 politician from Reggio Calabria

Reggio Calabria

Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...

 and the former head of the Italian State Railways. He was killed by the 'Ndrangheta – the Calabrian equivalent of the Mafia

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...

.

Political career

Born in Reggio Calabria

Reggio Calabria

Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...

 as the son of a poor railwayman, he began in journalism, joined the Christian Democrat Party and in 1979 was elected to parliament with a large majority. He won with 80,000 votes thanks to the support of the De Stefano 'ndrina

De Stefano 'ndrina

The De Stefano 'ndrina is one of the most powerful clans of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina hailed from the Archi neighbourhood in Reggio Calabria. Several of its members were included in the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy...

. Intelligent, pushy, self-assured and charming, he rose quickly in the ranks of the party. He was re-elected in 1983.

In 1985, thanks to his political connections, he was made head of the state railways. Three years later he was forced by his own party to resign, charged with fraud for vast sums of money spent on throwaway sheets for couchettes, bought by the railways in a crooked contract for 10 times their real value (known as the "lenzuola d'oro" or "golden sheets" scandal). Subsequently, there were other charges of bribery, corruption and embezzlement.

Killed by the 'Ndrangheta

Back in Calabria he claimed a large share of the rake-offs from huge and lucrative public works contracts. At the end of the 1980s, 600 billion lire (US$ 444 million) were allocated for the modernization of the city of Reggio Calabria. Ligato demanded a 10 percent bribe on the whole project, jeopardizing agreements already reached among a so-called "business committee" of local politicians and 'Ndrangheta groups.

On August 27, 1989, he was killed after he bade farewell to dinner guests at the gate of his seaside villa at Bocale, near Reggio Calabria.

In 1992 four Calabrian politicians - three Christian Democrats and a Socialist - were charged with deciding, along with five 'Ndrangheta bosses, to have ordered the assassination of Ligato. The two former MPs, one a former minister, and two former mayors of Reggio Calabria and their 'Ndrangheta associates decided to kill Ligato because he had got in the way of their business interests.

The politicians were absolved from ordering the killing in 1996. Among the 'Ndrangheta bosses who ordered the killing were Pasquale Condello

Pasquale Condello

Pasquale Condello is an Italian criminal known as a member of the 'Ndrangheta. He is also known as "Il supremo" for his role at the top of the crime syndicate. He was a fugitive since 1990 and included in the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy until his capture in February 2008...

, Santo Araniti

Santo Araniti

Santo Araniti is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia. He was a fugitive since 1983 and included in the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy until his capture in May 1994.-Criminal career:...

, Paolo Serraino

Paolo Serraino

Paolo Serraino , is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria. He was born in Cardeto, about 10 km southeast of the city of Reggio Calabria....

 and Diego Rosmini

Diego Rosmini

Diego Rosmini , also known as Direttore, is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria...

and his namesake son.