Italian police seize $419MN assets from ‘King of Videopoker’
People gather at Plebiscito square at the end of a demonstration to mark the 14th national day of remembrance of the victims of the organized crime on March 21, 2009 in Naples.
Italian police have confiscated assets worth 330 million euros ($419 million) from jailed mob businessman Giocchino Campolo, in the largest ever seizure from a criminal in Italian history.
According to the Agence France Presse, the assets comprise more than 250 properties, including homes in Milan, Paris and Rome, money from nearly 30 bank accounts, and a fine art collection, which included a Salvador Dali painting.
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Campolo, 72, who was dubbed the “King of Videopoker” and made his fortune by tampering with slot machines in bars and cafes for over a decade, was sentenced last year to 18 years in jail.
Police say he had helped to fund the powerful, clan-based ‘Ndrangheta organized crime group in his native Calabria region, which plays a major role in global drug trafficking and has an estimated annual turnover of tens of billions of euros.
According to the BBC, police hailed the assets seizure as a defining moment in its war against criminal networks, and said in a statement that “taking on criminal fortunes means taking away prestige from ‘Ndrangheta within its own criminal environment.”
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