Palermo, vanquished band of usurers: Marco Baldini was among the victims

An organization of usurers was defeated in Palermo by the Guardia di Finanza which, as part of the Tonsor ‘operation, delegated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, carried out five precautionary measures issued by the investigating judge of the Sicilian capital. SC, 63, ended up in prison, while his son GC, 34, MR, 61, and GC, 49, were placed under house arrest. They are accused, in various capacities, of criminal association, abusive exercise of financial activity, usury, extortion and self-laundering. On the other hand, AC, 61, was prohibited from staying in the territory of the Municipality of Palermo. With the same provision, the investigating judge ordered the preventive seizure of assets in the availability of the suspects for a total estimated value of about 500 thousand euros. BALDINI Among the victims of the band of usurers there was also the radio host Marco Baldini. This is what emerges from the Tonsor operation which led to the execution of five personal precautionary measures and the seizure of assets for 500 thousand euros. The criminal group operated between Rome and Palermo and, according to the investigators of the Fiamme Gialle, Salvatore Cillari, brother of a life-sentence boss, was at the head. In 2017 Baldini ends up in his network and from the interceptions it emerges that in June 2018 the radio host still had to return about 60 thousand euros. Not knowing that he is being intercepted, in fact, one of the suspects reveals: “An earthquake of money is advancing !!! This Marco Baldini … this one from Rome … he must give us (to Salvatore Cillari, ed) sixty and broken thousand euros. .. now Sunday leaves … he phoned us … you see I’m going up … I’m coming to break your horns !!! “. INVESTIGATIONS The investigations, conducted by the Economic-Financial Police Unit of Palermo, started in November 2019 and continued until December 2020, with the aid of telephone and environmental wiretapping, stalking, stalking, videotaping, examinations of financial flows, have allowed to shed light on the criminal group, headed by the 63-year-old, which, at least starting from 2016, would have disbursed money loans with the application of interest rates, including usurious ones, to a large audience of people, orbiting the Palermo area and Roman, for a total amount of approximately 150,000 euros.
“Part of the illicit proceeds would then have been ‘self-laundered’ by the son of the suspect – explain the investigators of the Fiamme Gialle -, active collaborator of his father in criminal actions, in an economic activity in the catering sector in the midst of the Palermo nightlife”. The other members of the group would have operated in various capacities as intermediaries, coming into contact with the victims, proposing ‘repayment plans’, as well as conveying ‘messages’ for respecting the deadline of the agreed installments. INTEREST RATES AT 140% Interest rates would have reached 140% and to get the money the suspects would not hesitate to threaten their victims. Loans at usurious rates would have continued even during the lockdown, taking advantage of the serious state of need of the victims.
The investigations of the specialists of the Gico of the economic-financial police unit have shed light on a professional system based on the issue of postdated checks used to guarantee the loans disbursed, as well as on cash donations, without any type of traceability, with the aim to ‘screen’ the money passages. The investigators of the Yellow Flames, through the examination, comparison and cross-referencing of information extracted from various databases, have ascertained “the absolute disproportion between the assets available to the suspects and the declared income”. Thus the seals for a well-known restaurant in the head quarter of Palermo, a motorcycle and current accounts were taken.