'Ndrangheta, the "godfather of Muenster" arrested. «He Had contacts with notaries and bankers»
Franco Aracri at the center of the Megna clan screenings in Germany. The repentant: «Business relations with the boss Nicolino Grande Aracri»
Posted on: 06/27/2023 – 16:01
by Pablo Petrasso

LAMEZIA TERME The German police arrested in Muenster an alleged affiliate of the 'Ndrangheta – known in the news as "the godfather" of the city – in the framework of the " Glicine/Acheronte " investigation ordered by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Catanzaro, signed by the prosecutor Nicola Gratteri and by substitutes Domenico Guarascio and Paolo Sirleo.
The (alleged) “godfather” is Francesco “Franco” Aracri. The authorities were ready to arrest his brother too but, apparently, he had already left for Italy . According to the European arrest warrant, Italian anti-mafia investigators accuse Aracri, 62, of belonging to the Megna di Papanice clanand money laundering. After his arrest in the morning, the man is now in custody .

A "bourgeois" life and work in the restaurant industry
Back in 2006, police officers had arrested Aracri on behalf of the Italian authorities in Muenster because they suspected him of being involved in a major cocaine trade from South America and laundering drug money. However, the judiciary was unable to prove it, and after a short period of house arrest in Crotone he returned to Germany . From outside Muenster, nothing leaked into Aracri's alleged criminal dealings. The man led a middle-class life for years in a residential area of ??the student city and worked extensively in the restaurant businessand food. According to the investigators, however, the "Godfather of Muenster" would have managed his activities as a front company for illegal business. According to Der Spiegel , a suspected money launderer from the Rhineland is also under investigation , but his whereabouts are not yet known.

Aracri and the Crime of Germany
A few years ago, according to Tagesschau reports , Aracri appeared in an internal analysis by the BKE (German Federal Police) in a list of nine suspected mafia members who allegedly formed the so-called Crime of Germany . It would be a supervisory body whose main task would be to mediate between the interests of individual family clans in Germany. According to investigators, the 'Ndrangheta does not have a similar body in any other European country outside Italy.

The «collaboration» with Nicolino Grande Aracri
The profile of Aracri outlined by the investigators also highlights his alleged closeness to Nicolino Grande Aracri and his role - exploited by various clans - especially for money laundering, starting in the 1990s. It is the collaborator of justice Angelo Salvatore Cortese who speaks of "collaboration" with the historic boss of Cutro in a "very profitable territory for laundering money and setting up production activities". «In those years - he says - Nicolino collaborated with Franco Aracri in the realization of some important entrepreneurial activities . It was Nicolino Grande Aracri himself who told me that he had set up an import-export company in Germany , thanks to the help of Franco Aracri».

«Revenues with bankers and notaries»
Cortese also says "that he was aware of important connections that he (Franco Aracri, ed.) enjoyed with accountants, notaries and bankers in Germany who he had agreed to place at Nicolino Grande Aracri's disposal for the execution of illicit deals ". «I remember – explains the repentant – that Franco Aracri, in Germany, enjoyed acquaintances with accountants, notaries, bankers and lawyers. I mention these circumstances directly because, when Franco Aracri came to Calabria, he went directly to Cutro, from Nicolino , to talk about business and showed the knowledge I told you about».

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...er-aveva-contatti-con-notai-e-banchieri/