TRAPANI, Italy, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Italy's interior minister announced Tuesday that anti-Mafia police seized $1.92 billion from a Sicilian businessman believed to have mob ties.
Roberto Maroni said the seizure was the largest ever in the history of the country's crime syndicate, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The businessman, identified as 54-year-old Vito Nicastri, is an alternative energy entrepreneur who operates several wind farms in Sicily.
He reportedly is one of the last remaining fundraisers for Italian mob boss Messina Denaro who is believed to be expanding his criminal empire abroad.
Nicknamed "Diabolik," Denaro has a reputation for brutality that has made him the idol of younger mafiosos.
Investigators say in addition to Denaro, Nicastri also worked with 'Ndrangheta, Italy's richest mafia in Calabria.
