A famous Italian singer and his wife have been arrested in a police bust of a mafia clan.
Neo-melodic singer Tony Colombo and his wife Tina Rispoli have been accused of external complicity in a mafia association and arrested on 17th October.
Colombo is the undisputed king of neo-melodica, which is an Italian music style combining elements of traditional Neapolitan songs with modern pop influences. With more than 20 albums and concerts from Europe through to the US, Colombo has an army of fans but even last year it was hinted that much of his money was coming from money-laundering from the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra.
Two years ago cops confiscated an apartment, two cars and thousands of pounds in cash from the singer who is married to the widow of a Camorra boss and police believe he uses his popularity to launder cash for the gang. Rispoli, who has been married to Colombo since 2019, was previously the wife of Gaetano Marino, a clan boss who was killed in 2012.
Now it has been revealed that he is being investigated in the anti-Camorra operation conducted by the Carabinieri of the special operational group and the provincial command of Naples.
According to local media, Colombo and Rispoli financed a cigarette factory with EUR 500,000 (GBP 433,868), subsequently seized by the police, where raw tobacco was imported from abroad for resale in the Italian national territory and for export abroad.
The pair are also said to have participated in the foundation of a clothing brand under the “Corleone” trademark, as well as in the distribution in Italy of an energy drink called “9 mm” watch in itself with its association with guns is a thinly veiled nod to his connection with organised crime.
According to local media, 27 people, suspected to be part of Di Lauro Secondigliano clan, have been arrested in the operation.
The suspect’s charges range from mafia association to external competition in mafia association, aggravated extortion, aggravated private violence, criminal association aimed at rigging aggravated facilitated auctions, criminal association aggravated by having facilitated a mafia clan and by the character of transnationality aimed at smuggling of foreign manufactured tobacco.
Assets worth around EUR 8 million (GBP 6.9 million) have been also seized in the operation.
The investigation in the anti-Camora operation revealed that fictitious companies registered in the name of third parties, also managed a well-known gym, a betting shop and some supermarkets, in addition to cigarette smuggling.
They reportedly also imported tobacco from Eastern Europe (in particular Bulgaria and Ukraine), and then sold it in Italy.
The case is ongoing and it is not an isolated one, as other Neomelodica singers have also been linked in with allegations that they colluded with the Camorra – either by their actions or through their music in promoting the criminal lifestyle.
