I just don't see how the mob could be too active in stock trading. How many front man can you get, or how much can you have a front man invest before a regulatory agency suspects something fishy? And with a publicly traded stock they can probe each investor down to their blood type, unlike a private company where you could have silent partners. If there's a mob connection, they'll find it.
You’re right. That’s why the Italian Mafia has members who go to universities and become finance professionals, lawyers, etc. The American mafia does not do that because their power and allure has been stripped from them in recent years past. The American mafia could have infiltrated without being directly involved but I don’t think they ever did. For example, Michael in Godfather 3 I believe had controlling interests in some Wall Street investment firms. I don’t think that means he was trading penny stocks and doing pump and dump schemes.
