Friends of Ours

Sixth Arrest For Montagna Hit

Quebec authorities have charged a sixth man -- Pietro Magistrale -- for his alleged role in the hit against former Bonanno boss Salvatore Montagna as reported by Paul Cherry for the Montreal Gazette.  Police allege that Montagna was whacked in November 2011 on the order of Raynald Desjardins after their failed bid to wrest control of the Montreal Mafia from reputed boss Vito Rizzuto as he served time in a U.S. prison on a racketeering conviction involving the 1981 murders of three Bonanno capos in New York City.  Rizzutto was released last October but while imprisoned all hell broke loose in Montreal including hits against his son Nick Jr. in 2009 and family patriarch Nicolo in 2010.

Nicolo Milioto Gushes Over Nicolo Rizzuto

Nicolo Milioto testified for a third day before the Charbonneau Commission which is investigating corruption allegations involving the Montreal Mafia and dirty officials in the award of public contracts in the construction industry, and although admitting that he was a sometime errand boy for Nicolo Rizzuto insists that he never was involved with any of the recently-slain mob patriarch's dirty affairs as reported by CBC News:  "he said he was simply friends with the Rizzutos and any illegal activities they may have been involved in were none of his business," and added "to me, they were good people who I respected and nothing more."

An apparently incredulous Justice France Charbonneau who is presiding over the hearings twice reminded Milioto "even vague or imprecise answers" could result in perjury or contempt charges against him as reported by Monique Muse for The Gazette.

Nicolo Milioto Says Cash Payments To Nicolo Rizzuto Was Sicilian Fundraising

Canadian authorities suspect that Nicolo Milioto is "the key link" to corruption allegations involving the Montreal Mafia and dirty officials in the award of public contracts in the construction industry but at Monday hearings before the Charbonneau Commission he testified there was an innocent explanation "for those stacks of cash he was repeatedly seen handing to the since-killed Mafia don Nicolo Rizzuto in a police surveillance video" as reported by CTV News:  "it was for Sicilian community fundraising events."

This morning in a second day of testimony Milioto said "he doesn't know what the mafia is, or even if it's real" as reported by CTV News.

Former contractor Lino Zambito testified earlier that the Mafia Montreal imposed a 2.5% tax on city projects, and Milioto was the man who collected it as reported by Catherine Solyom for The Gazette.

Report: Vito Rizzuto Keeps Mafia Crown

The attempted coup against Vito Rizzuto has been decidely squashed since the reputed boss's return to Montreal as reported by Paul Cherry for The Gazette: 

An effort to wrestle control of the Mafia in Montreal from the Rizzuto clan appears to have failed, experts said, after it blew up in the face of the men allegedly behind it, leaving Rizzuto almost unchallenged when he returned to the city in October after serving most of a 10-year prison term in the United States for his role in the 1981 murders of three fellow mobsters in New York.

Of course, in the meantime Rizzuto lost his father Nicolo and son Nick Jr. to the bloody rebellion.

Contractor Can't Explain Beating

The Charbonneau Commission is investigating corruption allegations involving the Montreal Mafia and dirty officials in the award of public contracts in the construction industry, and yesterday contractor Giuseppe Borsellino testified that he was at a loss in explaining a 2009 beating which "left him with severe facial injuries that required reconstructive surgery" as reported by CBC News:  "'I don't know why [it happened] and it could have been for a number of reasons. It could be linked to construction,' he said. 'I've tried to forget the incident.'"

Borsellino admitted that he knew reputed boss Vito Rizzuto and his recently slain father Nicolo but only in a social context as members of the Sicilian community, and he never paid a cut to or otherwise did business with the Mafia.  However, Borsellino did "tell the commission that he believes the construction industry has been infiltrated by the Mafia" although "he stopped short of naming any names and hedged his response, saying that it was all second hand knowledge."

The contractor may have been vague if not evasive about the involvement of the Montreal Mafia in the construction industry but he certainly didn't hold back with his allegations about public officials.  Borsellino testified that "he handed around $100,000 cash to city engineer Gilles Surprenant as part of a collusion scheme to rig the bidding process between 1995 and the mid-2000s," and "also admitted that he gave around $115,000 in cash to former City of Montreal engineer Luc Leclerc, who the entrepreneur said was responsible for approving extra work billed to the city."