Reputed Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto has been subpoenaed to appear before the Charbonneau Commission which is probing corruption allegations in the award of public contracts in the construction industry as reported by CTV: "several businessmen and city engineers testified at the Charbonneau Commission that Rizzuto was at the centre of a widespread scheme of kickbacks and collusion responsible for inflating the cost of government infrastructure projects by as much as 30 per cent."
Vito Rizzuto was released from a U.S. prison last month after serving several years on a racketeering conviction involving the 1981 murders of three Bonanno capos in New York City, and while the reputed boss was doing time all hell broke loose in Montreal including hits against Vito's son Nick Jr. in 2009 and family patriarch Nicolo in 2010.
Some mob watchers suspect that former Bonanno boss Salvatore "Sal the Ironworker" Montagna joined with 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia clans from New York City and Ontario in a bid to topple the Rizzuto clan.
Montagna was whacked in November 2011, and several suspected Rizzuto associates, including Raynald Desjardins, were charged last December for their alleged roles in the Montagna slaying. Desjardins was the target of an attempted hit in September 2011, and he also has been called to testify before the Charbonneau Commission. Earlier this month Desjardins' brother-in-law Joe DiMaulo was murdered. The buzz from some is that Desjardins and DiMaulo betrayed Rizzuto while in prison by attempting to negotiate a power sharing agreement with the interloping Montagna which broke down.
The ongoing Mafia war largely is for control over the cocaine trade in Montreal and NYC.
