@Cabrini

Time to understand - Politics Index of the
Section Time to understand - Politics
The "Iside 2" lodge




Last modification: 1/18/09



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Case of "diverted masonry". It was an active lodge in Trapani between 1980, when it was founded by Gelli , the "venerable master" of the P2 lodge , and 1986, when it was discovered by the police.

Trapani is a small city (73,000 inhabitants) of old and consolidated mafia traditions. In such a city, among the middle class members (traders, professionals, entrepreneurs, public officials, etc.), everyone knows each other and everyone knows everything about everyone.

There were about a hundred members of the lodge (four times the average number in Italian Freemasonry ): this anomaly is also significant, and in fact there were six other lodges that had 15-16 members each: in tolale 200, let's say "Masons" on about 28,000 adult men.

This means 72 "Masons" for every 10,000 adult men. The Italian average is 14 per 10,000.





1986

Following a "tip-off", the police searched the Scontrino cultural center and confiscated the lists of members (about 200) from seven Masonic lodges. Investigators understand that there is also a "covered" lodge, with nearly 100 affiliates not appearing on any list. After a few weeks the first secret names emerge: entrepreneurs, public officials, traders, some mafia bosses.
(Attilio Bolzoni - Repubblica, 3 December 1986)



1988

The day after the search at the Scontrino the leader of the flying squad Saverio Montalbano had been suspended by the quaestor Gonzales. Official reason: "improper use" of armored cars. Since the investigation was opened, four Quaestors and three leaders of the Flying Squad have changed. The magistrates issue 34 judicial communications that hypothesize the crime of constitution and belonging to a hidden Masonic association. The suspects, among others, the Regional Councilor for Local Authorities Francesco Canino (DC), the former Provincial Councilor for Public Education Salvatore Bambina (DC), the assistant chief assistant, Saverio Bonura, the first head of the prefecture, the commander of the urban police .
(Attilio Bolzoni - Repubblica, 13 February 1988)

Relations with the Mafia, arms trafficking and drugs are discovered. The suspects reach one hundred and are all affiliated with Isis 2. Among them, the quaestor Giuseppe Varchi (who is enrolled in P2). The hypothesis that the Trapani loggia is a sort of "dome", a super committee that controls the city, takes shape.
(Republic, February 14, 1988)

In an armored cabinet there are secret lists of affiliates, confidential notes, agendas full of the names of fugitive bosses, recommendations, requests for transfers, practices on large contracts, etc.
(gc - Repubblica, 24 March 1988)



1989

Against 24 members of the Masonic lodge judicial communications are issued in which the crime of simple and mafia-type criminal association is hypothesized. According to the investigators, the aims of the association were to protect the mafia in difficulty and to "cover" various types of business (careers, contracts, political elections).
(Francesco Viviano - Repubblica, 11 April 1989)



1993

The hypotheses of the magistracy are confirmed by two repents in the trial against the "teacher" of Isis 2.
(Francesco Viviano - Repubblica, March 21, 1993) .

The surveys revealed connections with other lodges (Camea, Ciullo d'Alcamo, Armando Diaz) which had become meeting points for politicians, magistrates, drug traffickers, entrepreneurs, mafia bosses, bankers and many professionals, especially notaries, lawyers and engineers .
(Attilio Bolzoni - Repubblica, 15 April 1993)

Among other things, the lodge also controlled the airport of Trapani, where, according to a "repentant" in 1980, the year in which, according to the repentant Marino Mannoia, Andreotti would have landed on a private plane to meet with his Ignazio cousins and Nino Salvo (Cosa Nostra of Salemi).
(Francesco Viviano - Repubblica, 23 April 1993)

For the first time in Italian judicial history, members of Masonic lodges are condemned for "management and organization of secret association". The sentence, issued by the court of Trapani, condemns the "master" Giovanni Grimaudo and his deputy, Natale Torregrossa.
(Francesco Viviano - Repubblica, 6 June 1993