Vito Ciancimino
Encyclopedia
Vito Ciancimino was an Italian politician
who served as mayor of Palermo
, Sicily
. He belonged to the Christian Democrat
party (DC - Democrazia Cristiana), and was the first Italian politician to be found guilty of Mafia
membership. In 2001 he was declared guilty of being involved in several Mafia-linked crimes, and in 2002 the Municipality of Palermo demanded restitution of 150 million euro
s, of which only 7 million were recovered.
, a village notorious for its powerful Mafia clans, such as the Corleonesi
. Ciancimino's very poor childhood revolved around his father's barber shop in Corleone, giving him early contacts with the local Mafia bosses. He later broke off studying engineering at University of Palermo
to work as an interpreter for Italy's post-war allied military government.
As a Christian Democrat politician, he became a protégé of Bernardo Mattarella
, who supported his political and financial career. In 1950 Ciancimino obtained concessions for all railway transport inside Palermo. The three other firms that had made a bid were put out of the game, because Ciancimino's bid was accompanied by a letter of Mattarella, who was then Minister of Transports.
Ciancimino, described by the Mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta
as "a pushy Corleonese embezzler", made a vast fortune in bribes. Ciancimino was candid about the need for bribes. If the Christian Democrats had 40% of the votes, they needed 40% of the construction contracts, he explained. Italy simply would not work without bribes: "It's as though someone wanted to remove one of the four wheels of a car."
expressed reservations about his election and he was soon under investigation for embezzlement of city funds, as well as for his apparent links with the mafia. In April 1971 Ciancimino stood down from office. Although the Antimafia commission would provide abundant documentation of the relationship between the Mafia and other such political and entrepreneurial notables, Ciancimino remained among the untouchables.
(turncoat) Tommaso Buscetta
. He was charged with improperly awarding $
400m worth of public works contracts, mafia conspiracy, fraud and embezzlement. Magistrates discovered he had a vast fortune, held in bank deposit books under imaginary names or in Canadian banks.
Buscetta linked him with two of the most notorious mafiosi: Salvatore Riina
and Bernardo Provenzano
, the leaders of the most powerful Mafia group, the Corleonesi
, from Ciancimino's hometown. After lengthy judicial proceedings he was brought to trial and in 1992 was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment for Mafia associations and for laundering millions of dollars. It was the first time a politician had been found guilty of working with the Mafia. Thanks to protracted appeals, the sentence did not become effective until November 2001. Ciancimino was expelled from the Christian Democrat Party.
In 1992, following the Mafia murders of Salvo Lima and the Antimafia judges Giovanni Falcone
and Paolo Borsellino
, Ciancimino offered to infiltrate Cosa Nostra and negotiate a solution to terrorist aggression against the Italian state. He may even have contributed to the 1993 arrest of the Mafia boss Salvatore Riina, whose removal cleared the ground for Bernardo Provenzano, a wilier and less bloodthirsty boss from Corleone, whose name has been linked to that of Ciancimino. Ciancimino's counterpart in the talks was the commander of Italy's domestic intelligence service.
In October 2009 Vito's son Massimo Ciancimino handed over to public authority a document showing his father's affiliation to Operation Gladio
. In November 2009, Massimo Ciancimino further declared that Provenzano betrayed the whereabouts of Riina. Police sent Vito Ciancimino maps of Palermo. One of the maps was delivered to Provenzano, then a Mafia fugitive. The map was returned by Provenzano to Ciancimino who indicated the precise location of Riina's hiding place.
. He was allowed to go shopping, and on chauffer-driven rides into the Alban hills. When the Palermo city council sought €150m in damages from him in March 2002, he retorted: "Do they want it all in cash?" Treasures already identified as belonging to him include a yacht, historic buildings, a Ferrari and smart shops in Palermo. Ciancimino died of a heart attack aged 78 on November 19, 2002, leaving a wife and five children. His fortune remained elusive.
His son, Massimo Ciancimino, was arrested on June 2006 and charged with money laundering and other offences. Prosecutors believe the fortune accumulated by the son and heir of Vito Ciancimino could be about €60 million. They claim to have established a paper trail linking Ciancimino Jr. to accounts in the Virgin Islands
, Amsterdam
and Switzerland
. In the notes found at the shack outside Corleone where Provenzano was arrested, two of the hundreds of his notes mention Ciancimino by name. One note claims angrily that Ciancimino had stolen "money not his to have fun in Rome, money that was meant to go to the families of [Mafia] prisoners who are in need ..."
Ciancimino was Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano
's creature, he protected and promoted him to protect his own interests. The pentito Gioacchino Pennino revealed that Provenzano had guided and advised Ciancimino, launched and directed his political career, and personally confronted anyone who was disloyal.
Politics of Italy
The politics of Italy is conducted through a parliamentary, democratic republic with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised collectively by the Council of Ministers, which is led by the President of the Council of Ministers, referred to as "Presidente del Consiglio" in Italian...
who served as mayor of 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...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. He belonged to the 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 ....
party (DC - Democrazia Cristiana), and was the first Italian politician to be found guilty of 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...
membership. In 2001 he was declared guilty of being involved in several Mafia-linked crimes, and in 2002 the Municipality of Palermo demanded restitution of 150 million euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s, of which only 7 million were recovered.
Early career
Ciancimino was born in CorleoneCorleone
Corleone is a small town and comune of approximately 12,000 inhabitants in the Province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy....
, a village notorious for its powerful Mafia clans, such as 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...
. Ciancimino's very poor childhood revolved around his father's barber shop in Corleone, giving him early contacts with the local Mafia bosses. He later broke off studying engineering at University of Palermo
University of Palermo
The University of Palermo is a university located in Palermo, Italy, and founded in 1806. It is organized in 12 Faculties.-History:The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although its earliest roots date back to 1498 when medicine and law were taught there...
to work as an interpreter for Italy's post-war allied military government.
As a Christian Democrat politician, he became a protégé of Bernardo Mattarella
Bernardo Mattarella
Bernardo Mattarella was an Italian politician for the Christian Democrat party . He has been Minister of Italy several times...
, who supported his political and financial career. In 1950 Ciancimino obtained concessions for all railway transport inside Palermo. The three other firms that had made a bid were put out of the game, because Ciancimino's bid was accompanied by a letter of Mattarella, who was then Minister of Transports.
Sack of Palermo
The railway concession became a turning point in Ciancimino's life. He became a rich man, moved house and changed his style of life. In 1959, when a fellow Christian Democrat, Salvo Lima, became mayor of Palermo, Ciancimino became assessor for public works and building permits. This period would be the peak phase of what is called the Sack of Palermo, a construction boom that led to the destruction of the city's green belt, and villas that gave it architectural grace, to make way for characterless and shoddily constructed apartment blocks. In the meantime Palermo’s historical centre was allowed to crumble.Ciancimino, described by the Mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta
Tommaso 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...
as "a pushy Corleonese embezzler", made a vast fortune in bribes. Ciancimino was candid about the need for bribes. If the Christian Democrats had 40% of the votes, they needed 40% of the construction contracts, he explained. Italy simply would not work without bribes: "It's as though someone wanted to remove one of the four wheels of a car."
Mayor of Palermo
Ciancimino's election as Mayor of Palermo in October 1970 caused an uproar. The Italian Parliament's Antimafia CommissionAntimafia Commission
The Italian Antimafia Commission is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate . The Antimafia Commission is a commission of inquiry into, initially, the “phenomenon of the Mafia”...
expressed reservations about his election and he was soon under investigation for embezzlement of city funds, as well as for his apparent links with the mafia. In April 1971 Ciancimino stood down from office. Although the Antimafia commission would provide abundant documentation of the relationship between the Mafia and other such political and entrepreneurial notables, Ciancimino remained among the untouchables.
Arrest and conviction
Ciancimino was arrested in 1984 after the testimony of Mafia pentitoPentito
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...
(turncoat) Tommaso Buscetta
Tommaso 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...
. He was charged with improperly awarding $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
400m worth of public works contracts, mafia conspiracy, fraud and embezzlement. Magistrates discovered he had a vast fortune, held in bank deposit books under imaginary names or in Canadian banks.
Buscetta linked him with two of the most notorious mafiosi: Salvatore Riina
Salvatore Riina
Salvatore "Totò" Riina is a member of the Sicilian Mafia who became the most powerful member of the criminal organization in the early 1980s. Fellow mobsters nicknamed him The Beast due to his violent nature, or sometimes The Short One due to his diminutive stature...
and Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and is suspected of having been the head of the Corleonesi, a Mafia faction that originated in the village of Corleone, and de facto capo di tutti capi of the entire Sicilian Mafia until his arrest in 2006.His nickname is Binnu u tratturi...
, the leaders of the most powerful Mafia group, 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...
, from Ciancimino's hometown. After lengthy judicial proceedings he was brought to trial and in 1992 was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment for Mafia associations and for laundering millions of dollars. It was the first time a politician had been found guilty of working with the Mafia. Thanks to protracted appeals, the sentence did not become effective until November 2001. Ciancimino was expelled from the Christian Democrat Party.
In 1992, following the Mafia murders of Salvo Lima and the Antimafia judges Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone was an Sicilian/Italian prosecuting magistrate born in Palermo, Sicily. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Mafia in Sicily...
and Paolo Borsellino
Paolo Borsellino
Paolo Borsellino was an Italian anti-Mafia magistrate who was killed by a Mafia car bomb in Palermo, less than two months after his fellow anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone had been assassinated....
, Ciancimino offered to infiltrate Cosa Nostra and negotiate a solution to terrorist aggression against the Italian state. He may even have contributed to the 1993 arrest of the Mafia boss Salvatore Riina, whose removal cleared the ground for Bernardo Provenzano, a wilier and less bloodthirsty boss from Corleone, whose name has been linked to that of Ciancimino. Ciancimino's counterpart in the talks was the commander of Italy's domestic intelligence service.
In October 2009 Vito's son Massimo Ciancimino handed over to public authority a document showing his father's affiliation to Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...
. In November 2009, Massimo Ciancimino further declared that Provenzano betrayed the whereabouts of Riina. Police sent Vito Ciancimino maps of Palermo. One of the maps was delivered to Provenzano, then a Mafia fugitive. The map was returned by Provenzano to Ciancimino who indicated the precise location of Riina's hiding place.
Last years and missing fortune
Ciancimino spent his last years in relative comfort. Since he was in poor health, his sentence was commuted to house arrest in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. He was allowed to go shopping, and on chauffer-driven rides into the Alban hills. When the Palermo city council sought €150m in damages from him in March 2002, he retorted: "Do they want it all in cash?" Treasures already identified as belonging to him include a yacht, historic buildings, a Ferrari and smart shops in Palermo. Ciancimino died of a heart attack aged 78 on November 19, 2002, leaving a wife and five children. His fortune remained elusive.
His son, Massimo Ciancimino, was arrested on June 2006 and charged with money laundering and other offences. Prosecutors believe the fortune accumulated by the son and heir of Vito Ciancimino could be about €60 million. They claim to have established a paper trail linking Ciancimino Jr. to accounts in the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. In the notes found at the shack outside Corleone where Provenzano was arrested, two of the hundreds of his notes mention Ciancimino by name. One note claims angrily that Ciancimino had stolen "money not his to have fun in Rome, money that was meant to go to the families of [Mafia] prisoners who are in need ..."
Ciancimino was Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and is suspected of having been the head of the Corleonesi, a Mafia faction that originated in the village of Corleone, and de facto capo di tutti capi of the entire Sicilian Mafia until his arrest in 2006.His nickname is Binnu u tratturi...
's creature, he protected and promoted him to protect his own interests. The pentito Gioacchino Pennino revealed that Provenzano had guided and advised Ciancimino, launched and directed his political career, and personally confronted anyone who was disloyal.
Sources
- Dickie, John (2004). Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia, London: Coronet, ISBN 0-340-82435-2 (Review in the Observer, February 15, 2004)
- Schneider, Jane T. & Peter T. Schneider (2003). Reversible Destiny: Mafia, Antimafia, and the Struggle for Palermo, Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23609-2
- Servadio, Gaia (1976), Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day, London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-436-44700-2
External links
- Obituary of Vito Ciancimino, The (London) Times, November 21, 2002
- Obituary: Vito Ciancimino, The Guardian, November 26, 2002