Police seize 'Anti-mafia tycoon' assets

(ANSA) - Palermo, July 8 - A Sicilian businessmen previously hailed for standing up to Mafia extortion demands had as much as 1.6 billion euros of his assets confiscated Wednesday by police for links to the Corleonesi clan of Cosa Nostra, police said.
    The entrepreneur, Gaetano Virga, a concrete magnate whose firm is based at Marineo, was hit by a confiscation order issued by the Palermo Tribunal carried out by police from the DIA special anti-mafia force..
    Virga had made numerous denunciations to police in the past for alleged extortion attempts on him by organised crime figures leading to the arrest of five people on charges of being the local Mafia chief and enforcers at the town of Misilmeri.
    Carabinieri arrested Francesco Lo Gerfo on charges of being the local mafia kingpin and Stefano Polizzi, an alleged extortion trickster in a crackdown that also led to the closure of the local town council because of mob infiltration.
    Between May and November 2010 Polizzi asked for a pizzo contribution from Virga's construction site, saying "remember what they told me, that you have children".
    Virga said "in the area everyone knew what Polizzi was doing. My uncle sent him away saying we wouldn't give him a cent, but he came back again later".
    Virga was seen as a symbol of resistance to the mob, receiving support from the anti-racket associations such as Addiopizzo, Libero Futuro and Fai.