Manlio Vitale (born 22 May 1949 in Rome) is an Italian

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

and high-ranking member of the

Banda della Magliana The Banda della Magliana (, ''Magliana Gang'') is an Italian criminal organization based in Rome. It was founded in 1975. Given by the media, the name refers to the original neighborhood, the Magliana, of some of its members. The ''Banda della ...

, an Italian criminal organization based in the city of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He is known as ''"Er Gnappa"'', which is Romanesco for "short person".

Biography

Vitale began his criminal career in the early 70s under boss Tiberio Cason, specializing in armed robbery, house burglary and kidnapping. He later branched out to cocaine trafficking and became affiliated with the

, in particular with the boss

Gianfranco Urbani Gianfranco is a compound Italian given name, consisting of Gian- and Franco. ''Gian-'' comes from Giovanni and is used in compound names. It is closest to John or French Jean. Gianni means "God is gracious" and Franco means "Free man" or "Frenchma ...

. Together with Urbani he was arrested on 18 October 1975 during a meeting at a restaurant together with the top bosses of the

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...

at the time:

Paolo De Stefano Paolo De Stefano (; died October 13, 1985) was an Italian mobster and member of the 'Ndrangheta who became the undisputed boss of Reggio Calabria. Together with his brothers Giovanni, Giorgio and Orazio he headed the De Stefano 'ndrina. Earl ...

, Giuseppe Piromalli and

Pasquale Condello Pasquale Condello (; born 24 September 1950) is an Italian criminal known as a member of the 'Ndrangheta. He is also known as ("the supreme one") for his role at the top of the crime syndicate.Padrini, terroristi, servizi segreti e massoni: così dalla Magliana è nata mafia Capitale After being released he participated in the kidnapping of duke Massimiliano Grazioli Lante della Rovere, who was taken away on November 7, 1977, for a ransom. When the Banda della Magliana divided each neighborhood in Rome, Vitale was given control of the Ostiense
-Garbatella area. After the death of Franco Giuseppucci, ''"Er Gnappa"'' was one of the many who participated in the ensuing gang war that decimated the rival Proietti Clan and several other adversaries — including his old boss Tiberio Cason, killed in 1983 on the orders of Urbani.Federica Sciarelli, ''Con il Sangue agli Occhi'' Having risen through the ranks he became one of the closest collaborators of top boss Enrico De Pedis, leader of the faction dubbed the ''"Testaccini"''. He diversified his activities, continuing to operate in drug trafficking but also usury and handling of stolen goods, an activity through which he met

Ciro Maresca Ciro may refer to: * Ciro (given name), a list of the people who share the Italian and Spanish given name *Ćiro (given name), a list of the people who share the Croatian given name *Ciro (opera), 1654 opera by Francesco Cavalli *Cyrus Cuneo (1879- ...

, a boss for the

Nuova Famiglia The Nuova Famiglia (Italian: "New Family") was an Italian Camorra confederation created in the 1970s and headed by the most powerful Camorra bosses of the time, Carmine Alfieri, the Nuvoletta brothers, Michele Zaza, Luigi Giuliano and Antonio Ba ...

and brother of the more well known

Pupetta Maresca Assunta "Pupetta" Maresca (19 January 1935 – 29 December 2021) was an Italian criminal who was a well-known figure in the Camorra. She made international newspaper headlines in the mid-1950s when she killed the murderer of her husband in reve ...

, who became one of the main Camorra allies for the ''"Testaccini"'' alongside Michele Senese. He invested money into legitimate businesses (such as car dealerships and jewelry stores), without abandoning armed robbery, for which he became one of the main organizers in Rome. Vitale has been also linked to the

disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi Emanuela Orlandi (born 14 January 1968) was a Vatican teenager who mysteriously disappeared while returning home from a flute lesson in Rome on 22 June 1983. Sightings of Orlandi in various places have been reported over the years, including ins ...

: according to an informant she was kidnapped to blackmail the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

into returning money that Vitale and De Pedis had invested in the

Banco Ambrosiano Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank that collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi, and his membership in the illegal former Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due (aka P2). The Vatican-based Institute for t ...

.Angela Camuso, ''Mai ci fu Pietà'' Following the conflict at the end of the 80's which led to the death of an older generation of bosses, such as De Pedis,

Edoardo Toscano Edoardo is the Italian form of the English male given name Edward. Notable people named Edoardo include: * Edoardo Agnelli (industrialist) (1892–1935), Italian industrialist * Edoardo Alfieri (1913–1998), Italian sculptor * Edoardo Amaldi (19 ...

and

Gianni Girlando Gianni is an Italian name (occasionally a surname), a short form of the Italian Giovanni and a cognate of John meaning God is gracious. Gianni is the most common diminutive of Giovanni in Italian. People with this given name * Gianni Agnelli (in ...

, the ''"Testaccini"'' split up into two factions: one of them led by

Paolo Frau Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Paul. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Paolo Art *Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter *Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American ...

Raffaele Pernasetti Raffaele () is an Italian given name and surname, variant of the English Raphael. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Raffaele Amato, Italian mobster * Raffaele Cutolo, Italian mobster *Raffaele Ganci, Italian mobster *Raffaele Canto ...

and

Giorgio Paradisi Giorgio may refer to: * Castel Giorgio, ''comune'' in Umbria, Italy * Giorgio (name), an Italian given name and surname * Giorgio Moroder, or Giorgio, Italian record producer ** ''Giorgio'' (album), an album by Giorgio Moroder * "Giorgio" (song), ...

, and another led by

Massimo Carminati Massimo Carminati (; born 31 May 1958), allegedly nicknamed "the last king of Rome", is an Italian underworld figure and former member of far-right terrorist group Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari and criminal gang Banda della Magliana, which were at ...

, Vitale and

Enrico Nicoletti Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from '' Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Henri (French), E ...

. Vitale became particularly close to Carminati and together established a monopoly on the lucrative videopoker market, while continuing to invest money in legitimate businesses. Vitale even laundered the money of

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

, the city's football squad, through contacts he had with some of its players and managers. Vitale and Carminati organized, on the night of 17 July 1999, a spectacular heist at the safety vault of the bank of Rome in Piazzale Clodio: despite the vault being protected by a massive gate, a group of 23 men led by Vitale opened it by simply using the standard keys, which were given to Carminati by a group of corrupt Carabinieri officers. They opened a total of 174 safe deposit boxes which resulted not only in a loot of 10 billion, but also in the theft of several sensitive documents which were kept inside and which Carminati intended to use to blackmail authorities. Although the documents were never found, after this heist Carminati was never put under investigation again for the next decade. Pernasetti and Paradisi resented Carminati's group for not having helped them during their time in prison following the repentance of former Magliana boss Maurizio Abbatino, and for not properly sharing the revenue of their activities with them. They had planned to murder them but a new wave of arrests on 2005 foiled their plans. Vitale was arrested again on 2 October 2010 in

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...

, where he was leading a group of

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

and

robbers to assault an armored truck. He is currently involved in the trial for the newly discovered

Mafia Capitale The Mafia Capitale is the name given to an organized crime organization and subsequent investigation involving the government of the city of Rome, in which members stole money destined for city services and carried out other criminal activities su ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitale, Manlio 1949 births Criminals from Rome Italian crime bosses Banda della Magliana members Living people