Money laundering news 29/12/2009 Lancashire arrest was part of Mafia crime link

The Gambling Commission has closed a Hounslow-based internet betting firm, Paradise Bet Ltd, as part of an operation with the Italian police and the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) in a bid to stop the activities of the Parisi clan who are accused of attempted murder, drug smuggling and money laundering.

According to a report in The Guardian, Italys leading expert in organised crime Francesco Forgione says British cities are becoming more important to the criminals who use sophisticated money laundering techniques as part of their activities.

Paradise Bet has an office in Bari, Italy, where an operation assisted by SOCA in December seized 227 properties, 680 bank accounts, 61 luxury cars, nine stables, 71 horses and 35 businesses worth £200m.

However, Forgione says it is believed a number of prominent Italian gangs have invested in businesses and property in the UK. These include shops in London which sell fake designer goods, act as hideouts for fugitives and fronts for drug trafficking.

Since the introduction of the Europe-wide arrest warrant, four Italian Mafiosi have been arrested in the UK, one of whom was Gennaro Panzuto who was caught in Garstang, Lancashire, where he was working with British criminals on defrauding car-leasing businesses.

Before his arrest in 2005, a Camorra boss, Antonio La Torre, set up a small commercial empire as a money-laundering operation in Aberdeen, including an olive oil and prosciutto-importing business and a restaurant, offering jobs to Neopolitans.

Forgione told the newspaper the only way the Italians money laundering activities in the UK could be reduced would be by the introduction of a law making Mafia membership a crime.

News « Serious Organised Crime Agency news - Mafia assets in UK

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