Slain mobster 'exported construction fraud'
Shot to death; No suspects found in Montagna hit
By PAUL CHERRY, The Gazette November 26, 2011


Salvatore Montagna, the reputed mafioso killed on Thursday, was very active in construction fraud in the U.S. and continued the practice when he was deported to Canada, an expert on money laundering says.

Jeffrey Robinson, the New York-based bestselling author of books like The Merger: How Organized Crime is Taking Over Canada and the World and The Laundrymen was not surprised to learn that Montagna, who was briefly the head of the Bonanno crime family in the U.S., was fatally shot in an apparently well planned hit as he was leaving a house on Île Vaudry, a small island just east of Montreal.

Robinson said Montagna, 40, was "a great earner" for the Bonanno family in New York when it came to construction fraud, which perhaps explained his quick ascent to the top of the organization despite being in his mid-30s at the time.

Montagna was deported to Canada in 2009 after authorities realized he wasn't an American citizen and had a criminal record for contempt of court. Montagna, a dual citizen, was born in Montreal and raised in Italy. For his deportation he chose to return to Montreal and, after apparently laying low for months, suddenly emerged in 2011 as someone police sources believe was eagerly seeking to take control of the Mafia in Montreal.

Robinson said he had learned that Montagna tried to apply what he was doing in New York to the construction industry in Montreal.

"I know he simply exported the construction fraud to Montreal. It was what he knew. He took what he knew and brought it to Montreal," said Robinson, who is often invited to speak to police investigators at conferences on money laundering in the U.S. and Canada. Last month, he was an invited speaker at the International Money Laundering Conference which was held in downtown Montreal and attended by more than 600 delegates from 48 countries.

Montagna, known as Sal the Ironworker when he was in the Bonanno organization, owned a steel company in New York.

The author said it is estimated that the five major Mafia families in New York take a five-per-cent share of all construction projects in the city.

"The Bonanno family was a big part of it," Robinson said while alleging the organizations were experts in overestimating the amount of workers or materials needed for large-scale construction projects. "From early on, the Bonannos saw a niche in construction. They were experts in inflating invoices."

During deportation proceedings in 2009, the U.S. government alleged that Montagna was the acting boss of the Bonanno family, a position he likely attained following three disastrous years for the organization. Most of its leadership was rounded up in 2004 as part of an FBI investigation, and its leader at the time, Joseph Massino, became an informant. This in turn led to the arrest of the next Bonanno leader, Vincent Basciano. Montagna assumed leadership over what was left.

U.S. court records indicate American authorities continued gathering information about Montagna long after he was deported.

On Dec. 2, Salvatore (Sal the Plumber) Volpe, 48, a man described in court documents as "an associate within the Bonanno crime family," is scheduled to be sentenced in a U.S. District court in Brooklyn in a racketeering case involving two acts of extortion, including one he carried out for Montagna.

On April 8, Volpe entered his plea under sealed proceedings that were only recently made public. According to his allocution, Volpe and Paul Spina, a soldier in the Bonanno family, were dispatched in 2006 to threaten a man who owed money to a legitimate company owned by Montagna.

"Paul Spina told the individual that if he didn't pay, I would be back to see him," Volpe said in court.

The other criminal act in the racketeering case involved orders Volpe said he took from Anthony (Fat Tony) Rabito, Montagna's consigliere, or adviser. Volpe said Rabito was concerned that an associate was withholding money the organization had collected for the many wives of Bonanno family members who were incarcerated in 2006.

"I told him that if he didn't get in touch with Anthony Rabito, I would be back to smack him," Volpe said in U.S. court back in April.

Volpe, who is a government witness, made headlines in New York tabloids this year when he testified in a murder trial involving Basciano. He revealed that a New York restaurateur paid mobsters $50,000 to avoid being killed for impregnating Volpe's wife.

On Friday, Sûreté du Québec Sgt. Benoit Richard said there were no new developments to report in the investigation into Montagna's death. He said autopsy results would likely be available on Monday. No one has been arrested in connection with the homicide.

Montagna is believed to have been shot as he exited a house on Île Vaudry and then, in an attempt to elude the shooter, jumped into a narrow section of the Assomption River which he swam across to nearby Charlemagne, a municipality near Repentigny. When police arrived they found him lying on the shore of the river and tried to resuscitate Montagna. He was declared dead after being taken to a nearby hospital.

Montagna did not reside in Île Vaudry and the house he was visiting was reportedly owned by a known criminal.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/toda...0820/story.html

that's a revenge of caruana-[BadWord] for the murder of agostino, it's like i said a war between sicilians... there's no way at this point any calabrian group is behind it where are the calabrians killed? we would seen a couple of them at least if they were involved they are not so strong to kill a caruana-[BadWord] and a bonanno boss with no retaliation

So he was expanding Bonanno territory, and moving in on the construction business.

Thats funny, dont understand how they could made such a mistake. Pretty sure they copied his name and searched for pictures on google

So you're saying a Sicilian was behind the murder of Agostino? Now we're getting somewhere.

But, it's still a Calabrian godfather. (my most humble opinion, of course).

yes it's a war between the bonanno's and the rizzuto's
the bonanno want to take the montreal faction
i'm sure that the latest murders lopresti and montagna is a revenge of the rizzuto
if the calabrians were behind it they had no reason to kill montagna who was an enemie of rizzuto

For what it's worth, I said last summer (2010), right after Agostino's burial that it was a Sicilian that hit him. On the rest that you wrote, we disagree.

Yes and no. Montagna was part of the plot to get rid of the Rizzuto clan but he mainly did that with support from Calabrians in Ontario and Montreal. It was a combined effort of sorts.

Montagna was also very close to other Sicilians and it seems he did not have support from the Montreal mafia.

i don't know why everyone thinks the calabrians are behind it they are not obviously, the calabrians in ontario has nothing to do with montreal they have not any power theremontagna was sure part of the plot to get rid of the rizzuto's but he did the mistake to kill agostino [BadWord] era with extremely powerful worldwide connections
yeah it's possibile montagna was killed by the same faction who did a pact to delete the rizzuto's but it would be the di maulo's who are not even calabrians

I think it's safe to say that Hamilton is playing it safe and probably staying in the background and letting montreal work itself out. However you can't deny that Montagna had been seen making trips to ontario, he was probabaly going down to let them know he was making a power move and wanted their help or blessing, who knows what they said. They might be staying out of it and letting the war work itself out first.

You have Joe Di Maulo, Raynald Desjardins and Sal Montagna on one side and you have another sicilian faction (Rizzuto's, Caruana- C untrera's)in montreal all battling for power. In my opinion i think Di Maulo and Raynald Desjardins are not rizzuto loyalists anymore (just a theory). For the past few years we have seen rizzuto allies dropping, now it seems like they are fighting back. I would suspect you will see another attempt on Desjardins life and probably a hit on Di Maulo although it will be hard because their whole life from here on out will be in the rear view mirror.

I don't think the Calabrians are so much behind this as they are just sidelining, perhaps they are picking a side and offering help but im not sure. I think they might be just waiting to see who comes out on top. I certainly don't think they orchestrated all this though...no way. Montreal will continue to be a sicilian stonghold, it will never go back to the calabrians.

That`s fairly accurate. The Ontario Calabrians have no interest in actually taking over Montreal directly. They have financial interests and drug shipment deals but all they care about is a reliable power source who can provide what they need.

The power has always been split in Canada between the two groups and they broker deals as to who will control what area, like it happens in Italy between mafia groups.

You said Montagna, Di Maulo and Desjardins are on the same side but it doesn`t seem so.

the ontario calabrians can't take over anything they are far weaker than montreal mafia
the bonanno's wanted to take over montreal again with the help of some local faction (di maulo?) who would answer to bonanno's in the future
it's possibile that after rizzuto's were decimated started a war between montagna and di maulo but it could be a revenge of the caruana - cun trera/rizzuto

I can t understand why a powerful family like Rizzutos failed to have a minimal reaction against their enemies. and is a reason why no one knows who's the enemy. The enemy has not had even one dead lol
why???

there are tons fo explanations like they didn't understand who did the attack first or they were too weak to answer or some of the minor people killed like bruni, desalvo etc. where on the other side or even that cun trere was on the side of montagna nobody knows it for sure

I am curious whose house Sal was at. Sounds of broken glass then gunshots followed by a run into the river suggests that Sal saw it coming.

Makes ya wonder if he was supposed to get whacked inside the house.

Anyone have any info?

One article I read mentioned that the tenant who rents the house is in his sixties and is known to police. Also said police cannot find this guy. Didnt mention his name though. Also mentioned that Sal broke a window to get out of the house.

You have to think he trusted the people he was meeting there, although he wouldnt be the first mafioso to show up for a meeting even though he thought he might be whacked. I doubt thats the case though.

My old buddy , Hey Sal is gone , But He was active you where way off kid

What up Sybil? How are the voices in your head? None of them told you to put a gun to your head yet? That's a shame. I knew you'd follow me here eventually. I'm a hard habit to break, I get it. Just don't fuck with me. I got home court advantage.

I never said Sal wasn't active. I said he had nothing to do with the Montreal takeover.

Tag , You be surprised what Sal was up too , The news is he told Nick Sr step aside , Sal wanted to be Boss , And he was making moves

...and now he's dead, the poor bastard. Next.

And what news? The news is he told Nick Sr to step aside? What news? Link? He told.... lmao. What did he tell. Man you are funny Sybil.

Tag and JoeyCigars: Round 8!!!!

Well I don't know if it's true or not but IIRC in the epilogue of the English version of "Mafia Inc" the authors claim Montanga had a meeting with Nick SR at which he told him to step down and his time was up. Again, not saying this is true or not, but this is what the authors of 'Mafia Inc' wrote.

heres the stuff about montagna meeting with nick rizzuto, its the last two pages of the book


http://www.amazon.com/Mafia-Inc-Canadas-Sicilian-ebook/dp/B004J4XA7S#reader_B004J4XA7S

Speaking for myself, I'm content to avoid a lot of the speculation about the war and just wait for information to come in when it does.

That said, I've noticed that quite a few people here make the assumption that a big part of all this conflict is the drug pipeline between Canada and the U.S. Or, to be more specific, between Montreal/Toronto and New York. The thinking seems to be that the Montreal and Toronto guys have the product, because of their international connections, and so they are the suppliers to the New York guys, who don't have the same international connections, but have a market.

On it's face, this would make sense. Until one finds that the flow of drugs, at least when it comes to Italian OC, isn't going south for the most part. It's going north. And that's where it's staying. In other words, the Rizzutos and their guys in Montreal were smuggling cocaine and other drugs into Montreal and were distributing it in the local market there. Same for the Calabrians in Toronto. Except for some marijuana sent south across the US/Canadian border to New York and Florida, there is really little evidence of the Italians up in Canada - be they Sicilian or Calabrian, in Montreal or Toronto - importing drugs there and then smuggling it into the U.S. In fact, marijuana is the one exception, where most of it is going south from Canada to the U.S. But that's done mostly by Asian groups, bikers, and others.

Furthermore, I really have to question the claim made in one of the recent articles about the 'Ndrangheta operating under the radar in New York because law enforcement is focused on terrorism. If this were the case, how would the writer(s) of the article even know this? They get their information from law enforcement, not the other way around. A few years ago there was that massive bust, dubbed "Operation Reckoning" and "Operation Solare" that involved the Gulf Cartel, members of the 'Ndrangheta in New York, Canada, and Europe, as well as a few local NY mob guys, but that was largely about moving cocaine from South America and Mexico to the U.S. and Europe. Not to Canada and then into the U.S.

Finally, I have to at least question the size estimates made by some about the mob up there. If I'm not mistaken, the population in the greater Montreal area is about 3.6 million, making it comparable to Seattle or San Diego. And the population in the greater Toronto metro area is about 5.5 million, making it comparable to Philadelphia or Houston. I believe there are about 250,000 Italians in Montreal and another 200,000 in Toronto. Making both of them fall somewhere between Detroit and Cleveland, by comparison.

Personally, I don't have a hard time believing that the 100+ guys rounded up in the Project Colisee case between 2006 and 2008 were the bulk of the Rizzuto organization. It was certainly enough people removed to create a big enough power vacuum for the ensuing chaos to occur. And Italian authorities who cited the 7 'Ndrangheta clans in Toronto also cited about 40 people who made up the "Canadian cell" (or those 7 Toronto-based clans) of the 'Ndrangheta. And the Thunder Bay wing of things, at least until fairly recently, was said to be dormant. So I do have a hard time believing there are literally "hundreds" of Sicilian Mafia and 'Ndrangheta members in Montreal and Toronto. Or, frankly, in all of Canada.

From what I can tell, there is a hodgepodge of Sicilian and Calabrian OC elements up in eastern Canada. And both have had connections, or even members, in American LCN families in the past, which makes things more confusing. There certainly seems to be more of an "international" element to Italian mobsters in Canada, when compared to those in the U.S. And there are obviously still links between them. But it seems many tend to overstate those links, thereby conjuring up a much bigger and more widespread conspiracy. That's where we get into the theories about the Sicilians and Calabrians fighting over who will control the flow of drugs into Canada - and by extension - into the U.S. With a little decades-old payback thrown in for good measure. And it all being mastermind by the bosses back in Italy.

Well, I don't see it. The mob guys up in Canada may be more international than their American counterparts, but they seem to be as much Canadian as the guys in the U.S. are American. Some of them using their passports more frequently doesn't change that. They're local guys largely dealing with local issues within and between Montreal and Toronto, with more of an indirect and distant connection to New York or Italy.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Two cents? That a buck-oh-five at least.

Great points, and very interesting observation. Especially concerning the direction of drug flow, facts that are often ignored.

FWIW, that BC Bud seems to be the one drug that North America manages to make that's better then anything out of Mexico, South America or the third world.

Even if they were moving their drugs into the states they wouldnt need to bring in any of the five families when theirs about a hundred other groups there that specialise in transporting the drugs across the border anyway. You can contract out to indo canadian gangs to transport drugs across for you because of their link to the transportation industry.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/speci...4f-f85dad8fffe2

http://www.turnto23.com/news/19860570/detail.html

Interesting info IvyLeague, thanks for sharing it with us.

Great post, Ivy.

I've been away a few days and have very little to add, except that Montagna's murder received almost zero press coverage in the New York papers, which leads me to believe that he wasn't quite as newsworthy as they would have had you believe a few years ago (Bambino Boss, etc.).

I also tend to agree with Carmela about Montagna's general intelligence and leadership abilities. Let's face it, sometimes people advance in their chosen fields in spite of their intelligence, not because of it. Right place, right time and all that. Plus, writing about a 35 year old "boss" made good copy a few years back. Today, not so much.

And slightly off topic: If you look at Patty's Bronx crew from, say, ten or fifteen years ago?

Boy, if they're not a testament to the dangers of mob life, I don't know what is. The only one who's still alive and not jailed for life is Johnnie Joe, and he has at least ten years to go on his sentence. He's my age (I'm 52), so he'll pretty much be an old man when he gets out. And let's face it, life probably ain't gonna be pretty for him. As it is, his wife and kids are already crying poverty.

"This is the business we've chosen." ----- You got that right.

If you firmly believe in stats it would mean that the Montreal and Toronto families would only have 50 members, comparable to the size the Cleveland and Detroit families once had.

However, that you could compare the size of the Italian community in Montreal and Toronto with Cleveland and Detroit doesn't necessarily have to mean that there would also be the same amount of Italian criminals. Ratios can differ from place to place.



So you're stating that the 'Ndrangheta families in Toronto have only 40 men in total? That would explain a lot of their supposed power. Could you direct me to the source which state this? I'm very curious.