Giuseppe Falsone (; born 28 August 1970 in

Campobello di Licata Campobello di Licata () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about east of Agrigento. Physical geography Territory Campobello di Licata is a hil ...

), sometimes spelled as Falzone, is 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 ...

. He was on the "

Most wanted list A most wanted list is a list of criminals and alleged criminals who are believed to be fugitive, at large and are identified as a law enforcement agency's highest priority for capture. The list can alert the public to be watchful, and generates ...

" of the Italian Ministry of the Interior from January 1999, until his arrest in France in June 2010.Italian mafia boss arrested in France
BBC News, 26 June 2010 He is considered to be one of the bosses of Cosa Nostra in the

province of Agrigento The province of Agrigento (; ) is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy, situated on its south-western coast. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 2015 by the Free Municipal Consortium of Ag ...

, jointly with Gerlandino Messina from

Porto Empedocle Porto Empedocle () is a town and ''comune'' in Italy on the coast of the Strait of Sicily, administratively part of the province of Agrigento. It was named after Empedocles, a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of the city of Akragas (p ...

.I latitanti Falsone e Messina al vertice di cosa nostra agrigentina
Televideo Agrigento, 10 November 2007Relazione del Ministro dell’Interno al Parlamento sull’attività svolta e sui risultati conseguiti dalla Direzione Investigativa Antimafia
1° semestre 2007

Mafia heritage

Giuseppe Falsone was born in

in the

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. He is the son of Vincenzo Falsone (born in 1930), the undisputed Mafia boss of the town for many years.E dopo Bernardo Provenzano?
Girodivite, 25 May 2005Ecco le accuse dell'Antimafia ai Falsone
La Sicilia, 13 March 2003 Vincenzo Falsone was well connected to Mafia bosses such Giuseppe Settecasi, Carmelo Colletti and Giuseppe Di Caro who were ''capo provincia'' of Agrigento in the past. On 24 June 1991, Giuseppe's father Vincenzo Falsone and his elder brother Angelo were killed by the

Stidda The ; ) is a Sicilian and Maltese Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society centered in the central-southern part of Sicily and island of Malta. Members are known as ''stiddari'' or ''stiddaroli''. It is most active in the rural par ...

during a vicious war with Cosa Nostra clans. Giuseppe took over the leadership of the Mafia family when he was not yet 21 years old. In retaliation, Falsone killed Salvatore Ingaglio, responsible for the killing of his father and elder brother. Falsone has been a fugitive since January 1999. He was convicted of Mafia association in 2000 and murder in 2001.

Capo provincia

At a meeting of Mafia families from Agrigento on 14 July 2002, in

Santa Margherita di Belice Santa Margherita di Belice ( Sicilian: ''Santa Margarita'') is a town in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region of Sicily. It lies in southwest Sicily, above sea level, near where the borders of the province of Agrigento, Province of Tr ...

, Mafia bosses were supposed to nominate a new ''capo provincia'' after the arrest of Calogero Di Caro, the boss from

Canicattì Canicattì (; ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about east of Agrigento. In 2024, it had a population of 34,295. History The archa ...

.Rapporto annuale sul fenomeno della criminalità organizzata anno 2002
, Ministero dell’Interno Mafia boss of bosses Bernardo Provenzano sponsored Falsone, while his rival Maurizio Di Gati was sponsored by

Antonino Giuffrè Antonino "Nino" Giuffrè (; born 21 July 1945) is an Italian former mafioso who later became a justice collaborator. The head of the mandamento of Caccamo, he was the second-highest ranked member of Cosa Nostra. He became one of the most importa ...

.Agrigento, arrestato latitante pluriomicida
La Sicilia, 26 November 2006 The police interrupted the summit. Di Gati was able to escape before the raid but he stepped aside as provincial boss for Falsone after the arrest of Giuffrè and due to the opposition of Provenzano to his position. Cesare Lombardozzi, Mafia boss of Agrigento, allegedly smoothed the transition.I boss "camaleontici" degli appalti
Ateneonline, 6 March 2007

Arrest

Falsone's main criminal interests are in

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

and public work contracts. In July 2004 assets worth two million euro were seized by the police, including real estate, 100 hectares of farmland, a winery and transport companies. Falsone's mother, sister and brother were arrested as well.Mafia, confisca di beni per 2 milioni di euro
La Sicilia, 5 August 2004 In the pizzini (small slips of paper used to communicate with other mafiosi to avoid phone conversations) with Bernardo Provenzano, Falsone was indicated as number 28.Il Codice Provenzano non ha più segreti
La Repubblica, 18 December 2007 In June 2008, Falsone just escaped his arrest. Police raided a house in

Palazzo Adriano Palazzo Adriano ( IPA: , , Gasca Queirazza, Giuliano (ed.) (1990). ''Dizionario di toponomastica. Storia e significato dei nomi geografici italiani'', p. 468. UTET. ) is a town and ''comune'' of Arbëresh origin in the Metropolitan City of Paler ...

, in the province of Palermo, but he was already gone.Ad un passo dal Capo, Falsone
Teleacras Agrigento, 16 June 2008 In March 2010, police seized more assets from Falsone worth €30 million. He was arrested on 25 June 2010 in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

(

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

). He had undergone plastic surgery and denied being Falsone showing a false French identity card, but his fingerprints gave him away. At the time of his arrest he was considered to be the Mafia boss of the province of Agrigento by police investigators coordinated by Girolamo Di Fazio.Mafia, catturato in Francia Falsone
La Repubblica, 25 June 2010

References

External links

*

Giuseppe Falsone *
Operazione Ghost 2
Teleacras Agrigento, June 22, 2006 *
Latitanti eccellenti, Falsone e Messina
Teleacras Agrigento, January 29, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Falsone, Giuseppe 1970 births Living people Gangsters from the Province of Agrigento Sicilian mafiosi