An Italian dairy billionaire - who once dubbed himself the 'Armani of Mozzarella' due to his power in the world of Italian cheese - has been arrested on mafia charges.
Dairy billionaire Giuseppe Mandara used the might of the Neapolitan mob to build his commercial empire, it is alleged.
The Mandara Group, the biggest producer of buffalo mozzarella in Italy, had been effectively controlled by the notorious Camorra mafia since 1983, investigators say.
The notorious La Torre Clan, which is based in the Caserta province near Naples, allegedly bailed the cheese king out when he was in financial trouble, investing 700 million of the old lira in his company.
The mozzarella mogul was arrested at dawn on Wednesday on suspicion of money laundering and mafia association, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
His mafia associates allegedly used their criminal earnings to pay off debts dating back to the 1970s and intimated land owners whose property he wanted to buy to build warehouses.
The dairy entrepreneur allegedly threw police off tack during the investigation into the disappearance of local politician Antonio Nugnes, who is presumed to have been murdered in 1990 with his remains dissolved in acid.
Mandara was held in 2012 accused of adulterating his prize product, mixing ordinary cow milk with the more expensive and creamier buffalo product.
He has previously been accused of mafia offences but the case was dropped for lack of evidence.
In Italy, Mozzarella DOC is a protected name that is supposed to guarantee the quality of buffalo mozzarella.
In the past the cheese has been the subject of public health scares after it emerged that carcinogenic chemicals were thought to be present in the soil – and the grass eaten by the buffalo – as a result of the illegal dumping of toxic waste by the mafia.
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...ague-Mafia.html
