Nicola Cosentino (born 2 January 1959) is an Italian politician. Nicknamed "Nick 'o mericano", he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 9 May 1996 to 14 March 2013 for Forza Italia and The People of Freedom in four legislatures, as well as undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance from 12 May 2008 to 14 July 2010 in the fourth Berlusconi government. In 2023, Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation confirmed his conviction for external complicity in mafia association.
Cosentino was born in Casal di Principe, one of Camorra's strongholds near Naples, in the Campania region. He is a distant relative of the Casalesi clan member Giuseppe Russo. [1]
Cosentino, a member of the Italian Socialist Democratic Party, was municipal councillor in 1978−1980, then provincial councillor from 1980 to 1995. In that year, he was elected into the Chamber of Deputies for Forza Italia. In 2005, he ran for the presidency of the province of Caserta but was defeated by the centre-left coalition candidate Sandro De Franciscis. Cosentino was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies in April 2008 for The People of Freedom, Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition party. In September 2008, through the confession of Camorra boss Gaetano Vassallo, he was implicated in a criminal scheme that involved the illegal treatment of toxic wastes in exchange of a monthly sum of €50,000. [2] [3] [4] In 2009, magistrates Naples' anti-mafia commission sent to the Chamber of Deputies the request of arrest for Cosentino but its commission refused. [5]
In 2010, Cosentino was involved in a scandal related to wind energy systems in Sardinia, which led to the discovery of the new P2 or P3 (a reference to the Propaganda Due, a secret Masonic lodge of the 1970s−early 1980s, of which Berlusconi was a member). He was called in by several entrepreneurs and right-wing politicians. According to the Ordinary Court in Rome, the accuses were pressuring the Constitutional Court of Italy to consider as legitimate the Lodo Alfano, a law that would have saved Berlusconi, the then Italian prime minister, from several of his trials; it was declared invalid; supporting the readmission of the For Lombardy regional list in the regional elections in Lombardy (the list had been banned due to use of fake signatures on the petitions that are required for a political party, or list of candidates to be placed on the ballot); favouring the appointment of Alfonso Marra in the Court of Appeal in Milan; and supporting the candidature of Cosentino as president of Campania through a smear campaign against the other right-wing candidate. [6] On 14 July 2010, Cosentino resigned as undersecretary of the Italian Ministry of Economy, although he retained the role as regional coordinator of The People of Freedom in Campania, [7] a position he held until 21 January 2013. [8]
On 27 April 2023, Cosentino was definitively sentenced to 10 years in prison for external complicity in mafia association. [9]
The Camorra is an Italian Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society originating in the region of Campania. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 17th century. The Camorra's organizational structure is divided into individual groups called "clans". Every capo or "boss" is the head of a clan, in which there may be tens or hundreds of affiliates, depending on the clan's power and structure. The Camorra's main businesses are drug trafficking, racketeering, counterfeiting, and money laundering. It is also not unusual for Camorra clans to infiltrate the politics of their respective areas.
Angelino Alfano is an Italian former politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018.
Castel Volturno is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about 35 kilometres (22 mi) northwest of Naples and about 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Caserta on the Volturno river. In 2010 Castel Volturno was inhabited by 25,000 locals and about 18,000 African refugees. Today (2019) there are still about 25,000 people, estimated two-thirds of them are immigrants.
Roberto Saviano is an Italian writer, essayist, journalist, and screenwriter. In his writings, including articles and his book Gomorrah, he uses literature and investigative reporting to tell of the economic reality of the territory and business of organized crime in Italy, in particular the Camorra crime syndicate, and of organized crime more generally.
Renato Maria Giuseppe Schifani is an Italian politician who has served as the president of Sicily since 13 October 2022. Schifani was Silvio Berlusconi's chief whip and was a prominent member of the Senate of the Republic from 1996 to 2022. From 29 April 2008 to 14 March 2013, he was the president of the Senate of the Republic.
Francesco Schiavone is a member of the Camorra, the Caserta organized crime syndicate, and the head of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta. He has been dubbed Sandokan after a popular 1970s television series starring Kabir Bedi because of his thick, dark beard.
Antonio Bardellino was a powerful Camorrista and boss of the Casalesi clan, having a prominent role in the organized crime in the province of Caserta during the 1980s. He was one of the last of the old-style Camorra godfathers.
The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from San Cipriano d'Aversa in the province of Caserta. Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area. The Casalesi clan is believed to be one of the most powerful groups within the Camorra, specialising in construction and keeping a lower profile than clans that focus on drug dealing.
Michele Zagaria is an Italian Camorrista and one of the bosses of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta northwest of Naples. He was nicknamed Capastorta, which translates to "twisted head", because of his violent reputation.
Antonio Iovine is a powerful Italian Camorrista and one of the bosses of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Lazio. His nickname is 'o ninno, because of his baby face when he was made a capo at a very young age.
Francesco Bidognetti is a powerful Italian Camorrista. He is the chief lieutenant of Francesco Schiavone, boss of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta, and head of the Bidognetti clan, one of the five clans which make up the Casalesi. He is known as "'Cicciott' 'e Mezzanotte'".
The "Naples waste management crisis" is a series of events surrounding the lack of waste collection and illegal toxic waste dumping in and around the Province of Naples, Campania, Italy, beginning in the 1980s. In 1994, Campania formally declared a state of emergency, ending in 2008, however, the crisis has had negative effects on the environment and on human health, specifically in an area that became known as the triangle of death. Due to the burning of accumulated toxic wastes in overfilled landfills and the streets, Naples's surrounding areas became known as the "Land of pyres". The crisis is largely attributed to government failure to efficiently waste manage, as well as the illegal waste disposal by the Camorra criminal organization.
Giuseppe Setola is an Italian Camorrista and former boss of the Casalesi clan from Caserta. Since 2008, he was included on the list most wanted fugitives in Italy, until his arrest on January 14, 2009, in Mignano Monte Lungo. Setola allegedly headed a squad of killers, and was said to have ordered or carried out 18 murders throughout the latter half of 2008. Police began a massive manhunt against Setola in response to the murders of six West African immigrants in Castel Volturno.
Nicola Panaro, is an Italian Camorrista and member in the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno. He has been on the "most wanted list" of the Italian ministry of the Interior since 2003 until his arrest in April 2010. Convicted for extortion and membership in the Camorra, he has yet to serve a prison sentence of nine years and four months.
Giuseppe Diana, also known as Father Peppino, was an Italian writer, a scout, and a Roman Catholic priest in Casal di Principe. He was killed by the Camorra.
Denis Verdini is an Italian politician, banker, and convicted felon.
The triangle of death is an area approximately 25 km northeast of the city of Naples in the Province of Naples, Campania, Italy, that comprises the comuni of Acerra, Nola and Marigliano. This area contains the largest illegal waste dump in Europe due to a waste management crisis in the 1990s and 2000s.
Forza Campania was a short-lived political party in Campania, Italy, functioning primarily as a group of elects within the Regional Council of Campania. The group was inspired by the former undersecretary for the economy and former Forza Italia regional coordinator Nicola Cosentino.
Enrico Costa is an Italian politician and lawyer. His father, Raffaele Costa, was also a politician who was Italian Minister of Health in the first Amato government and the first Berlusconi government.
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