Francesco Di Carlo (18 February 1941 – 16 April 2020)
was a member of the
Sicilian Mafia
The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...
who turned state witness (
pentito
''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...
— a mafioso turned informer) in 1996. He was accused of being the killer of
Roberto Calvi, nicknamed "God's banker", because he was in charge of
Banco Ambrosiano and his close association with the
Vatican Bank. He died after contracting
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
during the
pandemic
A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...
on 16 April 2020.
Early career
Di Carlo was born in
Altofonte, where he was initiated into the Mafia family in 1966 by the boss at the time, Salvatore La Barbera (not to be confused with the
Palermo Centro boss who was killed in 1963). He became ''capo famiglia'' in the mid 1970s. Altofonte was part of the
mandamento of
San Giuseppe Jato, headed by
Antonio Salamone and
Bernardo Brusca. According to the
pentito
''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...
Giuseppe Marchese, Di Carlo was an influential mafioso and a very competent drug trafficker connected with the
Corleonesi Mafia clan.
Di Carlo was described as an elegant and intelligent mafioso who received an education at the prestigious
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
college of
Gonzaga in
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
where he met the prince
Alessandro Vanni Calvello, who would be best man at his marriage. Di Carlo and Vanni Calvello were partners in the nightclub "Il Castello" in
San Nicola Arena, just outside Palermo on the highway to
Messina
Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
. The club was popular with the ''beau monde'' of Palermo, and hosted concerts by such visiting stars as
Ray Charles and
Amanda Lear. However, during the daylight hours, the Mafia used it as a meeting place.
Expulsion from Cosa Nostra
Di Carlo was expelled (''posato'') from Cosa Nostra, because of a conflict about a lost shipment of
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
or an unpaid consignment of
hashish
Hashish (; ), usually abbreviated as hash, is a Compression (physics), compressed form of resin (trichomes) derived from the cannabis flowers. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, As a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive ...
. Because of his useful contributions for the Mafia, he was not killed but had to leave Italy. He moved to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. His brother
Andrea Di Carlo took over the command of the Mafia family and became a member of the
Sicilian Mafia Commission. Because he had been expelled, he was approached by then-fugitive
Salvatore Contorno once he arrived in Rome, who trusted that Di Carlo was not kept up to date with the Corleonesi's plans to kill him, and as a result, Di Carlo provided money and support to Contorno during his stay in Rome before his arrest and eventual collaboration with the authorities.
According to Di Carlo, he was expelled in 1982 because he refused to betray some members of the
Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan (
Pasquale Cuntrera and
Alfonso Caruana), during the Mafia war in the
province of Agrigento that ran parallel to the
Second Mafia War in
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
. Mafia boss
Carmelo Colletti, connected with the
Corleonesi, had taken over the command after killing
Giuseppe Settecasi and his lieutenant
Leonardo Caruana. He wanted the other Cuntreras and Caruanas out of the way as well. However, it was Colletti who was killed in 1983.
Drug trafficking
In the United Kingdom, Di Carlo was involved in hashish and heroin trafficking. He bought a mansion in
Woking, Surrey, in the stockbrokers-belt near London. In the United Kingdom, he teamed up with
Alfonso Caruana. Di Carlo created an infrastructure to facilitate the smuggling operations: he owned a hotel, travel agencies and import-export companies.
In June 1985 The British
HM Customs and Excise and the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...
(RCMP) seized 60 kilograms of heroin in a controlled delivery. In the United Kingdom, Di Carlo was arrested with three others. In March 1987 Di Carlo was convicted and sentenced to a 25-year prison term for heroin trafficking.
Pentito
In June 1996 Di Carlo decided to collaborate with the Italian authorities. He was transferred from his United Kingdom prison to Rome. He was hailed as the "new
Buscetta". Di Carlo mentioned several politicians to be members of Cosa Nostra, among others: the
Christian Democrat politician
Bernardo Mattarella, the former president of Sicily
Giovanni Provenzano, and Giovanni Musotto, father of
Francesco Musotto, former president of the
Province of Palermo who has been accused of Mafia association.
['Vi dico i nomi dei padri della mafia']
La Repubblica, 11 October 1996
He also testified about the murder of journalist
Mauro De Mauro. The investigative reporter had been kidnapped and killed by the Mafia in 1970. Di Carlo testified in 2001 that De Mauro was killed because he had learned that one of his former fascist friends, Prince
Junio Valerio Borghese, was planning a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
(the so-called
Golpe Borghese) with like-minded army officers determined to stop what they considered as Italy's drift to the left.
["De Mauro venne ucciso perché sapeva del golpe"]
La Repubblica, 26 January 2001
The Independent on Sunday, 19 June 2005
La Repubblica, 18 June 2005 Di Carlo became an important witness in numerous anti-mafia trials and also testified in the trials against former Prime Minister
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti ( ; ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and wikt:statesman, statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992), and was leader of th ...
and
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...
’s right-hand man
Marcello Dell'Utri.
He wished to move to Canada as part of an international agreement which allowed him to be relocated almost anywhere in the world. In an exclusive interview with
W-FIVE, Di Carlo confirmed the allegation that the Sicilian Mafia considers Canada to be the best place in the world to conduct their criminal businesses. In November 2000, Di Carlo spoke to W-FIVE in hopes of sending a message to
Alfonso Caruana. During his interview, he revealed that the high council of the Mafia had ordered Di Carlo to murder Caruana, who had fallen out of favour. Di Carlo refused, saving Alfonso's life, but putting his own in danger. Di Carlo wanted the Caruanas to remember this life-saving favour.
[The Canadian connection]
W-FIVE, 7 November 2000
Involvement in Roberto Calvi murder
In July 1991 the pentito
Francesco Marino Mannoia claimed that Di Carlo had killed
Roberto Calvi, nicknamed "God's banker", because he was in charge of
Banco Ambrosiano, in which the Vatican Bank was the main shareholder. Calvi had been killed because he had lost Mafia funds when Banco Ambrosiano collapsed. The order to kill Calvi had come from Mafia boss
Giuseppe Calò.
When Di Carlo became a state witness in June 1996, he denied that he was the killer, but admitted that he had been approached by Calò to do the job. However, Di Carlo could not be reached in time, and when he later called Calò, the latter said that everything had been taken care of already. According to Di Carlo, the killers were
Vincenzo Casillo and
Sergio Vaccari, who belonged to the
from
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
and have since been killed.
Mafia wanted me to kill Calvi, says jailed gangster
Daily Telegraph, 10 December 2005[Mafia hitman reveals he was hired to kill God's banker Roberto Calvi ]
The Sunday Mirror, 12 May 2012
References
Further reading
* Calvi, Fabrizio (1993). ''L'Europe des parrains. La Mafia à l'assaut de l'Europe'', Paris: Grasset
* Caruso, Alfio (2000).
', Milan: Longanesi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Di Carlo, Francesco
1941 births
2020 deaths
People from Altofonte
Gangsters from the Metropolitan City of Palermo
Pentiti
Italian drug traffickers
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France