Italian mafia in action – After the crisis, millions of euros with coronavirus tenders

The Italian mafia has found ways to profit from the coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn that is taking place. From offering money at interest to new investments in businesses, the mafia is determined to exploit those affected by corona in Italy.

This is not the first time that mafia families have taken advantage of easy business opportunities. In 1980, an earthquake struck Naples and the Campania region, killing nearly 2.700 people. The Neapolitan wing of the mafia, the Camorra, quickly developed its own construction business and secured most of the reconstruction tenders.

In 2009, the former director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, said there was evidence that money from criminal organizations had been the only liquid investment capital used by Italian banks during the financial crisis.

Now, more than a decade later, in an article published in La Repubblica in March, journalist Roberto Saviano warns that the coronavirus crisis offers the mafia "a lucrative opportunity."

In early April, Italian police seized half a million euros in cash hidden in a van driven by people linked to the Calabrian mafia's 'Ndrangheta. The van was coming from Eastern Europe when it was stopped at Italy's northern border, according to the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano.

"This is a very important case. In general, a lot of drugs have been seized, but rarely money, and even more rarely have we seized money that was stored abroad and then repatriated to Italy," the world reports.

Faced with a dramatic increase in poverty among the people, the Italian government announced the distribution of 400 million euros in shopping vouchers. At the same time, authorities and some media outlets reported that mafia groups began distributing their own food baskets to families facing financial difficulties.

Some saw this as a recruitment strategy and a social consensus. In the Palermo region, the brother of the head of Cosa Nostra, Giuseppe Cusimano, was seen distributing food through a charity center.

Statistics published by the Interior Ministry at the end of April showed a 66% drop in crime compared to the same period last year. However, another figure was on the rise: money lending rose by 9.1%. According to Amedeo Scaramellas, of the San Giuseppe Foundation Moscato, which fights against such loans, the mafia blocks borrowers and then increases the interest rate by up to 300%.

After the crisis come corona tenders...

Experts agree on one point: Italy's criminal organizations will benefit most from the recovery. "By distributing food baskets and finding a way into the homes of poor families, the mafia is not just looking to recruit you. It is also giving people instructions on how to vote, and these will be respected at least partially," says Rizzoli.

In this way, the mafia strengthens its main activity: securing tenders. "As soon as there are announcements for tenders in the construction and public works sector, at least in southern Italy, the mafia tries to win them through its own legal companies," Champeyrache said.

According to Saviano, Italian criminal organizations will also take advantage of bankrupt sectors to invest in new markets. “Who can buy the tourist resorts on the Côte d'Azur or the Costa del Sol that have been destroyed by the tourism crisis in 2020?” he asks ironically.