Pantheon restaurants seized by anti-mafia agents - update
(ANSA) - Rome, March 12 - Italian anti-mafia investigators seized control of two famous restaurants in the area of the Pantheon in Rome on Thursday as part of an operation in which around 10 million euros in assets were confiscated.
The restaurants, 'Er Faciolaro' and 'La Rotonda', are popular with tourists.
Both were controlled by a 47-year-old businessman from the southern region of Calabria, Salvatore Lania, who was placed under house arrest on suspicion of fake registration of asset ownership as part of the operation.
Eight other people related to Lania or who work for him are also under investigation in the probe. In addition to the two restaurants police also seized a souvenir shop in the Pantheon area and dummy companies assigned to relatives or employees. Lania's name first emerged during investigations into infiltration by Calabria's powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia in the capital that led to the seizure and confiscation of the famous Dolce Vita-era Café de Paris in Via Veneto in November 2008. Specifically investigators uncovered alleged relations between Lania and associates of the crime syndicate involved in contraband activities between China and the Czech Republic via the Calabrian container port of Gioia Tauro.
The restaurants, 'Er Faciolaro' and 'La Rotonda', are popular with tourists.
Eight other people related to Lania or who work for him are also under investigation in the probe. In addition to the two restaurants police also seized a souvenir shop in the Pantheon area and dummy companies assigned to relatives or employees. Lania's name first emerged during investigations into infiltration by Calabria's powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia in the capital that led to the seizure and confiscation of the famous Dolce Vita-era Café de Paris in Via Veneto in November 2008. Specifically investigators uncovered alleged relations between Lania and associates of the crime syndicate involved in contraband activities between China and the Czech Republic via the Calabrian container port of Gioia Tauro.