Anti-Mafia investigators seize 100 mn in assets in Catania

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 21 - DIA anti-Mafia investigators have carried out an operation to seize assets worth 100 million euros owned by Antonino and Carmelo Paratore, respectively father and son, according to a statement issued by DIA on Wednesday.
    "The pair lead one of the most important entrepreneurial groups of eastern Sicily, which operates in various sectors, mainly in waste management and disposal", the statement said.
    "Over the years, the father and son were able to create a true network of companies, diversifying the family's activities with businesses active in hospital cleaning services, in real estate, and in the management of a very well-known beach club on the coast of Catania", said the note.
    DIA said the probe that led to the operation kicked off in 2020 and was coordinated by anti-Mafia investigators in Catania who analysed the financial activities of the pair, who had already been investigated by prosecutors in the Sicilian city and arrested in an operation called 'Pyramids'.
    Investigators believe the father and son had cooperated for decades with Mafia boss Maurizio Zuccaro, who is serving a life term at the Opera prison in Milan, an historic member of the Santapaola-Ercolano clan convicted for the 1996 murder of Luigi Ilardo. (ANSA).