Black Friday Weekend Sale alert!!
Paul Castellamo – The Head of the Gambino Crime Family from 1976-85.
Frank Costello -The Prime Minister of the Underworld.
Mug Shot – Lucky Luciano
FRankie – Yale – The boss of the Mafia in Brooklyn in the Roaring 20’s.
Joe Bruno’s Mobsters – Eight Volume Set” is on sale for only $2.99 starting Thanksgiving Day and ending 12 midnight December 1.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CJVQZSE
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars BRUNO DOES IT AGAIN, February 20, 2013
By
RJ Parker “Bestselling & Award-Winning Author” (Toronto) – See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: “Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks and Other Creeps-Volume 4 (Kindle Edition)
Just when you think you’ve read everything there is about NYC mobsters and gangs, Bruno comes up with more. Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks and Other Creeps-Volume 4 is another must have for the true crime collector. Bruno is the real deal when it comes to historical crime in the big apple.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A great way to spend 99 cents…, January 17, 2013
By
This review is from: “Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks and Other Creeps-Volume 4 (Kindle Edition)
“Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks and Other Creeps-Volume 4” is a great way to spend 99 cents. Bruno makes some great points about the Feds going after the decimated Italian Mob in America, when they should be concentrating on terrorists.
Also, I didn’t realize there were so many crooked cops in New York City, but I know that tradition goes all the way back to the late 1800’s.
All in all this book is a fun read. But maybe not so much, if you are a NY City cop.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Mobsters, gangs .crooks Vol.4, January 27, 2013
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: “Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks and Other Creeps-Volume 4 (Kindle Edition)
The book was informative and fast reading, Joe Bruno did a great job. Read volums 1,2,and 3 already and looking forward to his next vol.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Palermo, Godfathers, and the Squadra Antimafia, February 24, 2013
By
Joyce Metzger – See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: “Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks and Other Creeps-Volume 4 (Kindle Edition)
This is the history extention of crimes and criminals tied to the mafia. A detailed synopsis of the brotherhood of the Costra Nostra is not an engaging subject. Brought before the turn of the twentieth century into the United States from Sicily and Italy, the tentacles built of bones and blood were extremely fertile and ever greedy, able to entice and incorporate new members and victims.
We have learned of Castellano, Gambino, Genovese, Valachi, Riesel, DeLuca, Colombo, Franzese, Soprano, Johnny Dio, Jimmy Hoffa, Thomas Farese, Whitey Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig. These are only a few names attached to heinous crimes. Many became involved because of intimidation, threats, pitiful living conditions, pride, need and greed.
The twin desires of money and power overshadowed and trapped men who finally realize that the Blood Oath lasts a lifetime. And, the Secrecy Oath meant no talking ever, to law officials or anyone not associated with the brotherhood under penalty of death. Death for self, wife, daughters, sons, parents, cousins, uncles or even aunts. No one receives a “get-out-of-jail” pass.
The brotherhood would back and protect their own, but the price, after warnings of broken bones, was the ultimate. The web spread to incorporate much of the United States. The Capos and Godfathers could not be lenient. If they detected weakness, it was labeled as being traitorous. Originally, this life carried glamorous overtones. To penniless waifs, the seduction was irresistible. But, insatiable greed fosters cruel repercussions. The monsters maim, then slaughter weaker subjects. This fact has been verified many times in many horrific ways.
This book by Joe Bruno, and his insightful forerunner books, should act as clear preventive warnings. These are cutting edge, real life horror stories, not inventive fantasies. Swallow bitters, take the medicinal pill, go to bed, and try to ignore the fact, that evil does exist, and vendettas destroy everyone.
http://www.josephbrunowriter.com/index.html
Well I guess the police departments of New York and Chicago don’t have a monopoly on police corruption.
Former British army intelligence officer Ian Hurst made allegations at the Leveson Inquiry that there is corruption in the Metropolitan Police Force “at the highest levels.”
And that’s not all.
Hurst also claimed that the police corruption goes hand in hand with the corruption of certain British journalists. The journalist that Hurst explicitly mentioned was Andy Coulson, former editor of The News of the World, who has been accused of having his reporters hack into the computer and phone files of prominent people, in addition to the files of newsworthy people. Unfortunately, Hurst was not able to give the exact details of these corruption charges at the Leveson Inquiry due to a “gagging” order from the courts.
Earlier this year, Hurst said in an interview with BBC’s Panorama that one of his own computers was hacked into by Coulson’s underlings. Hurst also said that in April 2009, following the arrest of an man who possessed hacked documents, it was proven that the security of Hurst’s wife had been compromised.
Hurst said at the Leveson Inquiry, “Andy Coulson was the editor of the News of the World and he is (expletive) big pals with a lot of powerful people including police officers. It is there, it is at the highest level and out there with journalists today. There’s copious amounts of knowledge that the police had (concerning the journalists). That is exactly what you are dealing with here ladies and gentlemen – corruption.”
Hurst added in court that it’s time for the Metropolitan police to come clean. He said the Metropolitan police, “Has let society down, and they should be making a full disclosure.”
What’s baffling is why, when Hurst obviously has the goods on some people, police and journalists included, he is not allowed to divulge the exact details at the Leveson Inquiry. I don’t know how the court system works in Great Britain, but in America when someone appears in court to give evidence, they are compelled to tell all they know. I don’t understand how this “gagging order” comes into play, and why it was instituted concerning Hurst in the first place.
In America, when we appear in court to give testimony, or appear before an investigating committee, we promise “to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
I guess British law differs from American law in more ways than one.
Someone please enlighten me on this.
You can read the article below at:
Ian Hurst Describes ‘Corruption At The Highest Levels’ Of Metropolitan Police At Leveson
Former British army intelligence officer Ian Hurst has made strong allegations against the Metropolitan Police, claiming there is “corruption at the highest levels”.
Giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry on Monday he said the MPS should provide the probe into press ethics “with all intelligence of police corruption including that at very highest level.
“It is there, it is at the highest level and out there with journalists today,” he said.
The remarkable claims came following a tense session at the London court, in which Hurst was unable to reveal full details of his evidence due to a “gagging” order.
Hurst previously worked in Northern Ireland where he was one of the British army’s contacts for IRA spies.
Earlier this year he gave an interview to BBC’s Panorama into computer hacking and he told the programme he believed one of his computers was hacked by the News of the World.
Hurst says that in April 2009 following the arrest of an unnamed man documents showed that the security of his wife had been compromised.
“There’s copious amount of knowledge that the police had,” Hurst claimed at the inquiry.
He added that the Met “has let society down they should be making a full disclosure”.
He also read out a statement that was made during the filming of a Panorama programme into computer hacking.
“Andy Coulson was the editor [of the News of the World] and he is f*****g big pals with a lot of powerful people including police officers.”
He then added: “That is exactly what you are dealing with here ladies and gentlemen – corruption.”
Reputed London crime lord Terry Adams got himself a £7,000 facelift, and it landed Adams back in the slammer. The £7,000 stem-cell facelift was performed at the Harley Street Skin Clinic in January.
Adams, boss of the Adams Family, or “A-Team,” had been on parole after serving four years for a 2007 conviction on money laundering. But as part of his parole, Adams was ordered to file a Financial Reporting Orders, in which he is supposed to list any expenditures he makes while he is on parole. The Financial Reporting Orders was designed to prevent convicted convicts from living the king’s lifestyle while out on parole.
Besides not reporting the facelift, Adams also neglected to report a membership in the five-star Grove Spa Hotel in Hertfordshire, and the purchase of a gold Cartier watch, which Adams bought for more than £2,000.
When the Westminster magistrate’s court found out about Adams’ non-admissions, they sentenced him to an extra eight weeks in jail, “On top of whatever a parole hearing decides he should serve for breaking the terms of his license since his release from custody last year.”
Adams, one of 11 brothers, some of whom are alleged London organized criminals themselves, is said to be responsible for more that 25 murders. And according to the magistrates court, Adams has accumulated more than £200m from his ill-gotten gains garnered in 30 years in a life of crime.
When police raided Adams’ home near Barnet, north London, in 2003 the found, “antiques worth £500,000 and tens of thousands of pounds hidden in a shoe box in the attic.” They also believe that Adams has more money stashed away all over the world (like Whitey Bulger?), as well as several luxury cars, stupendous yachts, and a glorious home in Cyprus.
So the question that begs to be asked is why a man of Adams’ means would risk his freedom to get an expensive face lift, join a swanky health club, and buy a £2,000 gold Cartier watch, which he probably has many of already. All this is a blatant smack in the face to the London court order, and you’d think a man of Adams obvious superior intellect would know better than to rock the boat, if it might land him in jail.
I guess some people just have to have it all, including a new face.
Me — I’m happy with the one I have already.
You can view the article below at:
Gangland boss back in jail after his £7,000 facelift
Head of the London crime family is jailed again for covering up return to big-spending lifestyle
Running the country’s most notorious criminal gang must take its toll on a man’s complexion.
But when Terry Adams, head of the Adams Family, or “A-Team”, checked into the Harley Street Skin Clinic in January for a £7,000 stem cell facelift he could hardly have expected it would land him back in jail.
Adams, now 57, was sentenced yesterday at Westminster magistrate’s court to an additional eight weeks, on top of whatever a parole hearing decides he should serve for breaking the terms of his license since his release from custody last year.
The pioneering non-surgical treatment was among a number of large expenditures Adams failed to declare on the Financial Reporting Orders imposed on him after he was released halfway through a seven-year sentence for money laundering. They are designed to prevent convicted criminals leading an exuberant lifestyle while on parole. Among his other expenses were membership of the five-star Grove Spa Hotel in Hertfordshire and a gold Cartier watch, bought for more than £2,000, the court heard.
Adams, considered a king among crime royalty, has been back in custody since this August, when the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) investigated his Financial Reporting Orders. The parole board will decide next week how much more of this three and a half year sentence he will serve.
Many feel it is a remarkably lenient sentence for a man whose organisation is said by some to be implicated in more than 25 gangland murders, and rich to the tune of £200m – but for decades Adams was thought to be “untouchable”. The prosecuting barrister in his 2007 case spoke of his “ability to keep his evidential distance from any of the violence and other crime from which he undoubtedly profited.”
It started with bullying and petty extortion of market traders in north London more than 30 years ago, before blossoming into a vast racketeering and drug trafficking empire, throughout London, Lincolnshire and Spain. When police went to Adams’ home near Barnet, north London, in 2003, they found antiques worth £500,000 and tens of thousands of pounds hidden in a shoebox in the attic. Authorities believed more money was salted away in other accounts to go with the cars, yachts and a home in Cyprus.
The riches came with a reputation. The so-called A-Team made it to the top of the criminal underworld on the back of ruthlessness against anyone, or any group, who stood in their way.
The syndicate is rumoured to have killed about 25 people and the legacy of that violence rumbles on. Scotland Yard announced this year that, following the advance of forensic science, it was resuming inquiries into the deaths of Adams’s financial manager, Solly Nahome, in 1998 and Gilbert Wynter, an enforcer for the gang, who was once charged with murdering the former British high jump champion Claude Moseley and who disappeared in 1998.
When Adams was finally jailed in 2007, few were left in doubt as to his criminal credentials. His imprisonment followed several failed inquiries and the bugging of his home by MI5 during a brief period when it turned its attention to tackling organised crime and attempts to dismantle the Adams network.
The level of violence used by the gang was made clear on bugged conversations at Adams’s home, recorded after years of failed attempts to bring him to justice. In one section of the hundreds of hours of recordings, Adams boasted to a friend: “I went ‘crack’. On my baby’s life, Dan, his knee cap come right out there…all white…All bone.”
But if there was £200m, the police never found it – and even Adams himself may not have been privy to the location, as his financial manager Solly Nahome, responsible for moving around much of his cash into offshore accounts, was shot dead in 1998.
It is doubtful now that the A-Team, also known as the Clerkenwell Crime Syndicate, exert quite the influence they used to. Adams’ barrister Malcolm Swift QC said his client was “a broken man as a result of his prison experience” and had become “paranoid about being under surveillance by authorities” to the extent that he “doesn’t drive a car” and “doesn’t use a telephone”.
Adams, wearing a light blue shirt, blue jumper and jeans, appeared emotionless throughout and spoke only to confirm his name. His wife Ruth, in the public gallery, quietly expressed her dissatisfaction on several occasions. “Is that a crime?” she said at one point.
A spokesperson for Soca said: “Financial Reporting Orders are designed to make it more difficult for high level criminals to re-offend. Soca will not tolerate breaches. Our policy of ‘lifetime management’ means what it says.”
Adams has so far repaid just £350,000 of the £750,000 he was ordered to pay in legal fees from his 2007 trial. The facelift treatment was in fact paid for by his sister-in-law, Camilla Hicks, a procedure “the NHS wouldn’t fund,” Mr Swift said.
On sentencing, District Judge Quentin Purdy said he had taken into account Adams’ guilty plea, but told him: “You wilfully and, in my judgement, arrogantly sought to frustrate the effect of a financial reporting order, well knowing that a significant confiscation order remains largely unpaid.
“It seems to me you are a shrewd and calculating individual, quite determined not to pay this money as you should.” The Parole Board hearing is scheduled for next week.
While older brother Terry was the brains, Patsy was the muscle. By the mid-1980s, he had a reputation as one of the most violent figures in the criminal underworld. It was he who pioneered the use of motorcycles to carry out drive-by assassinations. Sentenced to seven years in prison in the 1970s for armed robbery, in 2001 he was reported to be living in exile a few miles south of Torremolinos in Spain, in a walled villa bristling with security cameras.
The third Adams brother (there are 11 in total) is the group’s financier. He stood trial in 1985 for handling the £26m proceeds of the infamous Brink’s-MAT gold bullion heist. When the group became involved in drug trafficking, he is thought to have established important connections with Colombian drug cartels and Jamaican Yardies. He was convicted in 1998 of masterminding an £8m hashish-smuggling operation, for which he was jailed for seven years.
Terry Adams’s wife was also subject to money-laundering charges, but these were dropped when her husband went to prison in 2007. She has kept some of the value of the marital home which was sold when her husband was jailed, using some of it to pay for the expensive gym membership and the gold Cartier watch that has landed her husband in trouble again.
In American, actors sometimes play gangsters, but in the UK, a true-life actor somehow got himself involved in a real-life murder.
On the witness stand for the murder trial of Edward Heffey, actor Brian Regan, 54, who played Terry Sullivan in Channel 4’s Brookside for 14 years, has admitted that he drove alleged gunman Heffey to and from the scene of the shooting of Bahman Faraji, in Aigburth, Liverpool last February. But Regan claims he was only driving Heffey to deliver some cocaine, and had no idea a shooting had occurred. Regan said on the stand that he did drive Heffey to the area of the murder that night, but as far as he knew it was so Heffey could collect drug money.
Regan said, “Heffey said he’d be back in a minute and got out of the car. I had a line of cocaine, I finished the bag off, as I was sitting in the car. Heffey returned about three or four minutes later and there was nothing different about him. No sign of blood and no sign of a gun. Then I drove away normally from the scene and took Heffey home.”
Regan also admitted that he and his girlfriend/cocaine-pal Christine Line concocted a false alibi for Regen on the the night on the killing. Regan said he came up with the plan on the “spur of the moment” on the night of his arrest when both he and Line were sitting in the back of a police car after they had been arrested as co-conspirators in the murder trial.
“I was asking her to lie for me,” Regan said. “She could see I was scared, upset and worried. I told her to say that she was in the car with me that night.”
Regan also admitted that when he found out about the killing he was so afraid for his life, he refused to go back to his flat.
Regan said the the witness stand, “I was scared of going back there because a man had been shot. I did not know whether the passenger I had in my car (Heffey) had anything to do with it. My head was up my a**e. I didn’t want to go in the flat because I was scared.”
Regan said his career fell off a cliff when his run in the popular Brookside TV show ended. Regan said that when he stopped getting regular acting work, he became a cocaine addict. His acting career subsequently ended, when at the age of 45, he had a heart attack (probably from all the coke he stuffed up his nose.)
As part of his cooperation deal with the courts, Regan has pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying Class A drugs and two counts of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply. He will be sentenced at the end of Heffy’s murder trial. His girlfriend Line has also pleaded guilty to allowing her premises to be used in the supply of a controlled drug. She will also be sentenced after the trial.
Who knows what will become of the rest of Regan’s life, but it’s safe to say his acting career has gone down the tubes for good. American actor Robert Downey Jr. made a remarkable acting comeback after being incarcerated for consistently being caught doing and buying drugs. But Downey Jr. was a world-class actor before his troubles. Regan was a second-rate actor at best, and certainly no Downey Jr.
Hopefully, Regan will at least keep his nose clean in the future. In more ways than one.
The article below can be seen at:
Former Brookside star Brian Regan admits to lying to police over gangland shooting
Nov 17 2011
A FORMER soap star admitted today that he told police “a pack of lies” in the aftermath of an underworld shooting.
Brian Regan, 54, who played Terry Sullivan in Channel 4’s Brookside, is accused of driving alleged gunman Edward Heffey to and from the scene of a shooting in Aigburth, Liverpool, in February this year when father-of-one Bahman Faraji, 44, was gunned down in the street.
The former actor, of St Mary’s Road, Liverpool, denies murder alongside Heffey, 40, of Beloe Street, Lee Dodson, 42, of Logfield Drive, and Simon Smart, 32, of Kylemore Way, all Liverpool.
Today Regan, who appeared in the soap for 14 years, told Liverpool Crown Court that he tried to get his girlfriend, Christine Line, 48, to provide a false alibi for him and tell police she was with him on the night of the killing.
Regan said he came up with the plan on the “spur of the moment” on the night of his arrest when both he and Line were sitting in the back of a police car.
Stephen Riordan QC, defending Heffey, said: “You and Christine were cooking up a false story in the back of the police car?”
Regan replied: “I was. I was asking her to lie for me. She could see I was scared, upset and worried. I told her to say that she was in the car with me.”
Regan agreed that the “story” would give him “a complete alibi” for the time of the murder.
Mr Riordan then asked Regan about his first statement to the police, saying: “That statement is pretty much a pack of lies?”
Regan responded: “Yes.”
He told the jury that he knew nothing about the shooting but admitted that he had been involved in delivering drugs.
He said he feared for his life following the murder and was too scared to go back to his flat.
He told the court: “I was scared of going back there because a man had been shot. I did not know whether the passenger I had in my car had anything to do with it. My head was up my a**e.
“I didn’t want to go in the flat because I was scared.”
Mr Riordan said: “You were worried that something was going to happen to you?”
Regan said: “I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t know what I was doing.”
The court heard that Regan told police he was worried he was going to get shot if he told them anything or named Heffey as the man who had been in his car on the night of the murder.
“I was scared that something would happen if he knew I had given his name in,” Regan said.
Earlier in the trial Regan said he did ferry Heffey to the area of the murder that night, but as far as he knew it was so Heffey could collect drugs money.
Questioned by his defending barrister Charles Benson QC about events leading up to the murder, Regan admitted being a regular cocaine user and a dealer.
After he left Brookside in 1997 and acting work dried up – along with his savings – Regan continued using the drug and became a supplier and a cocaine courier on behalf of friend Dodson.
Regan said they would supply Heffey with cocaine “about three or four times a day” and added that it “wasn’t unusual” for Heffey to also ask for a lift in Regan’s car.
He added he had no idea a shooting was going to take place on February 24 when he took Heffey a £30 bag of cocaine.
The prosecution say the pair drove to Belgrave Road, near where the shooting took place outside the Belgrave Arms public house.
Questioned by Mr Benson, Regan said: “(Heffey) said he’d be back in a minute and got out of the car.
“I had a line of cocaine, I finished the bag off, as I was sitting in the car.”
He said Heffey returned about three or four minutes later and there was “nothing different about him”.
He said there was no sign of blood and no sign of a gun.
Regan said he then “drove away normally” from the scene and took Heffey home.
Mr Faraji, a nightclub doorman, was shot at close range as he stood outside the public house with two friends.
Prosecutor Brian Cummings QC, previously told the jury Mr Faraji was killed by Heffey after Dodson enlisted Regan to act as the driver.
The shooting was orchestrated “at a distance” by Smart acting on the orders of another man, Mr Cummings said.
Liverpool-based Brookside began on the launch night of Channel 4 on November 2 1982, and ran for 21 years until November 2003.
Regan joined Brookside from episode six and his character was at the centre of some of the Close’s most dramatic storylines until his final appearance in 1997.
He said he was in Brookside when he began taking cocaine but never used the drug while he was working.
Leaving the programme had a “dramatic” effect on his life and income, he said.
He briefly worked on Sky Sports Soccer AM but that came to an end when he suffered a heart attack shortly after his 45th birthday, the court heard.
In November last year, the jury was told, police attended the home of Regan’s girlfriend, where a substantial amount of cocaine and drugs paraphernalia was found.
Regan, who was at the property at the time, then took the officers to his own flat where they found 40 wraps of cocaine.
He has pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying Class A drugs and two counts of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply and will be sentenced at the conclusion of the murder trial, the court heard.
Line, also of St Mary’s Road, Liverpool, has pleaded guilty to allowing her premises to be used in the supply of a controlled drug and will also be sentenced later.
The pair separately deny a charge of perverting the course of justice over witness statements they gave to detectives investigating Mr Faraji’s shooting.
As was predicted in an earlier blog, Fat Freddie Thompson’s wise move to allow himself to be extradited from Cloverhill prison in Ireland to Spain to face charges worked out perfectly. Days after he was extradited, Thompson was brought to a courthouse in Estepona where he faced charges of drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, money laundering and unlawful assembly.
And guess what?
The judge allowed Thompson out on bail, which would have never happened had Thompson remained in custody in Ireland.
According to the article below, “Sources believe that his decision to agree to extradition to Spain to face the charges is a ‘tactical maneuver’ to allow him to continue his life of crime.”
Ya think???
Just so Thompson won’t miss any conjugal visits, reports say it is likely Thompson will be joined in Marbella, Spain by his girlfriend Vicky Dempsey and his young son.
It’s amazing how a criminal like Thompson was able to play the system in Europe, which is a place that is notoriously light on crime. Sure the cops in Europe put on a big show or arresting this one and that one. Yet Thompson, for all his alleged criminal activities, was able to avoid prosecution in Ireland. Then instead of languishing in an Irish jail after he was arrested on a European arrest warrant issued by Spain, Thompson said something like, “I think I rather go to Spain, where those dopes will be stupid enough to let me out on bail.”
Kiddies, they used to say, “Only in the movies.”
Now I say, “Only in Europe,” where the last time I looked, two European counties named Greece and Italy, are looking for a European bailout because they have run out of money, basically because of runaway socialistic spending.
Now I know why so many rich Europeans are breaking down the door in America, trying to get into a country that only screws the rich a little bit. Europeans are fighting to get E-2 visas in America, like fat men fighting for the last meatball on the dining room table.
Criminals like Freddie Thompson perform country-hoping exercises in Europe to avoid jail as easily as an Italian drinks a bottle of wine. And to make matters worse, people are rioting in the streets in Europe because their big bad country is trying to pull the ever-present safety net from out under their lazy fat butts.
Give me the good old U.S. of A. anytime. Every time an American arrives home from across the pond, they should kiss the ground as soon as they get off the plane.
And the girls are prettier in America too.
No mustaches.
The article below can be seen at:
http://www.herald.ie/news/sun-shines-on-fat-freddie-as-he-gets-bail-2922011.html
and
Sun shines on ‘Fat’ Freddie as he gets bail
mm
By Niall O’Connor
Tuesday November 01 2011
GANG Boss ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson was today enjoying the Mediterranean sunshine after being freed on bail from a Spanish court.
The 30-year-old criminal was brought by armed officers to a courthouse in Estepona where he faced charges of drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, money laundering and unlawful assembly.
Thompson was extradited to Spain last Friday at the request of officers probing his links to Irish gang boss Christy Kinahan’s €1bn crime empire.
Sources believe that his decision to agree to extradition to Spain to face the charges is a “tactical manoeuvre” to allow him to continue his life of crime.
However the Crumlin gangster was spared more prison time after agreeing to bail conditions and was today soaking up the Spanish sunshine.
Thompson was ordered to hand over his passport and to sign on at the court twice per month until his case is heard — a requirement that is likely to bring him into contact with alleged associates John Cunningham and Kinahan’s sons Daniel and Christopher.
And it is likely Thompson will be joined in Marbella by girlfriend Vicky Dempsey (30) and his young son.
He is believed to be staying in a plush villa along with his cousin, Liam Byrne (32).
Spanish officers are expected to keep close tabs on the gangland boss over fears he may be targeted by enemies.
If convicted, Thompson is facing nine years in prison.
Thompson spent 13 days on the D2 wing of Cloverhill prison before being flown to Spain. He is thought to have then spent the weekend in prisons in Madrid and Alhaurin de la Torre — home to killers Dermot McArdle and Eric ‘Lucky’ Wilson.
Sources at Cloverhill have revealed that Thompson indicated being on bail in Spain would be a more attractive option than an Irish jail.
“He was always polite and caused no trouble whatsoever,” according to a senior officer.
While awaiting his extradition hearing, Thompson received three visitors.
One of these visitors is believed to be a close associate of fugitive Eugene Cullen, who is being sought for questioning by detectives in relation to a robbery in Dundrum and a fatal shooting in 2009.
hnews@herald.ie
Suspected gangland boss, ‘Fat Freddie’ Thompson bailed in Spain
Costa del Sol
Friday, 04 November 2011 18:49
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SUSPECTED crime boss ‘Fat Freddie’ Thompson was released on bail following a court appearance in Estepona. Thompson was arrested in Dublin on a European arrest warrant on October 14 and consented to extradition.
The 30-year-old Dubliner spent 13-days in Cloverhill Prison in Ireland before being flown to Spain last Friday and spending the weekend in prisons in Madrid and Alhaurin de la Torre.
While he has not been officially charged with any crimes he “has been informed he is under investigation for crimes including money laundering, unlawful assembly and drugs trafficking,” a court source told Irish daily the Independent.
“The three conditions of his bail are that he cannot leave Spain, hands in his passport to the authorities and signs on at court twice a month on days fixed by the court.”
If convicted he faces nine-years in prison in Spain
In America we have Americas Most Wanted, and that Fox TV show has been instrumental in capturing dozens of known criminals, some of them vicious killers. Whitey Bulger is a perfect example.
Now in the United Kingdom, Operation Captura, a campaign organized by Crimestoppers and the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA), is putting the screws to various thugs on the run by stepping up their campaign to capture them. Tops on their list are William Paterson and Derek Ferguson.
Patterson, from Glasgow, is wanted for murder of Kevin ‘Gerbil’ Carroll, who was shot to death in the car park of Asda in Robroyston in January in 2010. And Ferguson, from Glasgow, who is also known as William Henderson, is wanted for the murder of Thomas Cameron. Cameron was killed in 2007 at the Auchinairn Tavern in Bishopbriggs. Police say Ferguson has a number of distinguishing marks, including tattoos of an arrow and a dagger, and is missing a part of his left ear.
Operation Captura was started in 20006. Since then, 46 out of 60 criminals they set their sights on have been arrested. Other people on Operation Captura’s “most wanted” list include suspected murderers, sex offenders, and drug traffickers.
Lord Ashcroft, the founder of Crimestoppers said: “Operation Captura is a unique partnership that has seen huge success in bringing some of the UK’s most wanted fugitives to justice. A small number of suspected criminals see Spain as a safe place to evade law enforcement but, thanks to the confidence the UK, Spanish and ex-pat communities have in Crimestoppers, these individuals will not be able to escape justice for much longer.”
Andy Baker, deputy director for SOCA, said, “Operation Captura has proved immensely successful, not only in aiding the arrest of individuals attempting to hide amongst the ex-pat community in Spain, but also as a means of raising the profile of these individuals and making Spain a hostile environment for British criminals. We look forward to continuing this work with Crimestoppers and extending the programme to other countries popular with our ex-pats; where criminals mistakenly think they can hide from justice.”
For some reason, European criminals think of Spain as a safe haven to hide when they are wanted by the law. Now, with Operation Captura working hand-in-hand with Crimestoppers, this premise is quickly becoming passe.
I wouldn’t be surprised if more fugitives on Operation Captura’s wanted list aren’t arrested soon; Paterson and Ferguson among them.
The article below can be seen at:
Britain’s most wanted: Kevin ‘Gerbil’ Carroll accused thought to be in Spain
Police appeal for suspects after gangland figure’s death and a separate murder in Bishopbriggs in 2007.
By Graham Fraser
A man wanted in connection with the shooting of a gangland figure in Glasgow is thought to be hiding out in Spain.
On the fifth anniversary of Operation Captura, a campaign organised by Crimestoppers and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), a new appeal has been launched on Thursday to find ten suspected criminals. Among them are William Paterson and Derek Ferguson.
Police want to question 32-year-old Paterson, from Glasgow, over the killing of Kevin ‘Gerbil’ Carroll, who was repeatedly shot in the car park of Asda in Robroyston in January last year.
Ross Monaghan has already appeared in court in connection with Carroll’s death. The 29-year-old denies murder and other charges and is set to go on trial next March.
Meanwhile Glasgow man Ferguson, who is also known as William Henderson, is wanted over the murder of Thomas Cameron.
Mr Cameron was killed in 2007 at the Auchinairn Tavern in Bishopbriggs. Police say 47-year-old Ferguson has a number of distinguishing marks, including tattoos of an arrow and a dagger, and is missing a part of his left ear.
Both Ferguson and Paterson have been on the radar of Operation Captura since February of this year. Other men on the “most wanted” list include suspected murderers, sex offenders, and drug traffickers.
One of them, 29-year-old Andrew Moran from Salford, is wanted in connection with a £25,000 armed robbery in Lancashire. Moran escaped after he assaulted a security guard then jumped over the dock of a courtroom in Burnley after a judge said he was going to be remanded in custody.
Since Operation Captura launched in October 2006, 46 out of 60 suspected criminals highlighted have been arrested.
Lord Ashcroft, founder and chair of Crimestoppers, said: “Operation Captura is a unique partnership that has seen huge success in bringing some of the UK’s most wanted fugitives to justice.
“A small number of suspected criminals see Spain as a safe place to evade law enforcement but, thanks to the confidence the UK, Spanish and ex-pat communities have in Crimestoppers, these individuals will not be able to escape justice for much longer.”
Andy Baker, deputy director for SOCA, said: “Operation Captura has proved immensely successful, not only in aiding the arrest of individuals attempting to hide amongst the ex-pat community in Spain, but also as a means of raising the profile of these individuals and making Spain a hostile environment for British criminals.
“We look forward to continuing this work with Crimestoppers and extending the programme to other countries popular with our ex-pats; where criminals mistakenly think they can hide from justice.”
Callers from Spain can contact a special freephone number on 900 555 111 which will be answered in the UK by Crimestoppers.
Information can also be passed on anonymously via the Crimestoppers number 0800 555 111.
Damn, they must really take their drug dealing serious in Great Britain.
Poor Scotsman James Ross owned a debt of some 10,000 pounds to British drug dealer John Maclean. Maclean somehow lured Ross out of the UK to Portugal, ostensibly to work off his debt by toiling in MacLean’s pot farm. But when Ross got to Maclean’s property in the village of Alfontes, Portugal, instead of cultivating marijuana, he was tortured for 13 days.
Carlos Pereira found the terribly mutilated Ross walking aimlessly in the streets of Alfontes. Pereira told the local police, “He came staggering towards me, asking me to stop, waving his arms in the air. He had no left ear and was missing two fingers on his left hand, a toe from one foot and two from the other. He also had a leg wound.”
All this because of a unpaid pot debt of 10,000 pounds.
Imagine what they would have done to Ross if Ross had owed Maclean 100,000 pounds instead. I don’t think Ross would have had enough ears, toes, and fingers to pay off that figure.
The article below appeared in the Scottish Daily Record.
Scot has ear, fingers & toes chopped off during drug gang kidnap ordeal in Portugal
Oct 21 2010
By Paul O’Hare
A SCOT had an ear, two fingers and three toes chopped off during a horrific kidnap ordeal over an alleged £10,000 drug debt.
James Ross, 26, was tortured in a villa on the Algarve for 13 days after being lured to Portugal by a gang of Brits.
Dad-of-two Ross, from Wick, Caithness, was found bleeding in the street in the village of Alfontes, near Loule, by Carlos Pereira.
Carlos said: “He came staggering towards me, asking me to stop, waving his arms in the air.
“He had no left ear and was missing two fingers on his left hand, a toe from one foot and two from the other. He also had a leg wound.”
Ross told him he had been involved in a road accident.
Mr Pereira said: “He was very white. He said, ‘Please, please, telephone’. I decided to put him in my van and drove him to a square, near a cafe, and called the police.”
Alerted Northern Constabulary had ranked Ross as a “high risk” missing person and alerted the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency and Portuguese cops.
Ross’s sister Gayle last night said the family did not wish to comment, adding: “We actually don’t know anything. The police have never been in contact with us so I don’t want to say any more.”
A Portuguese newspaper claimed Ross owed fellow Brit John Maclean £10,000 over a cannabis deal.
And it said Ross was lured to the Algarve on October 5 when Maclean told him he could pay off his debt working on a cannabis farm.
But the Rangers fan was kidnapped soon after landing at Faro airport at 9pm.
Two days later, his wife Donna, 26, got a call from the kidnappers and recognised the voice as John Maclean’s.
The aspiring model was told her husband was being held in a cage, unconscious and with broken legs, arms, feet, ankles and ribs.
The caller warned Ross would be executed if she called the police.
But British cops were monitoring the line and tipped off Portuguese officers, who traced the call to a phone booth on an industrial estate near Lisbon.
Last Friday, armed officers from Portugal’s National Counter-Terrorism Unit arrested Maclean and three other Brits, named by a Portuguese newspaper as Terrence MacGurk, Calum MacLeod and Ronnie Rose.
Three of them were held at a house near the popular holiday resort of Albufeira.
At the time, detectives were convinced Ross had been murdered and police divers were drafted in to look for his body.
Cops also found a burned out Mercedes said to have been used by the gang in a reservoir in nearby Santana da Serra.
A police source said: “Everything suggested he was dead.”
But detectives were stunned when Ross turned up pleading for help at around 9am on Monday.
Northern Constabulary last night confirmed they launched the international probe.
A spokesman said: “Following a report of a high-risk missing person made to police at Wick over the disappearance of a 26-year-old local man who had travelled to Portugal, Northern Constabulary instigated a joint operation with the Policia Judiciaria and the assistance of the UK SOCA.
“This operation culminated in the arrest of four UK nationals on serious criminal charges in Portugal where court appearances are expected.”
SOCA declined to comment on the operation.
Hours after Ross was discovered in the street, cops found the villa where he had been held in the village of Boliqueime.
The house is surrounded by a six-foot wall and a large iron gate.
British neighbour Jack Maculigan said he had seen people coming and going from the property. He added: “I saw various people and cars. I’m talking about Audis and Mercedes.”
The four Brits are being held on remand after appearing in court in Lisbon.
They are said to be aged 20 to 50, all with police records and living in Portugal, where they were believed to be involved in trafficking hash.
Detectives fear Ross will refuse to cooperate with the investigation as he and his family have received numerous death threats.
The Manchester home he shared with Donna was raided by men armed with knives in August demanding payment of the debt.
Ross is being kept under armed guard at a hospital in Lisbon.
Ross and Donna, a contestant in the UberGirl model competition, have two young children.
First of all, before I read the article below, I had no idea what a “Supergrass” was (There’s a definition of Supergrass after the article below).
However, the gist of the story is that informant John Corkish, 46, was hit with a 12-month jail sentence for contempt of court, because he initially refused to rat on Scottish organized crime figures Raymond “Rainbow” Anderson and James McDonald. At the two murderer’s trail, Corkish, scared spitless, originally clammed up, and actually gave false testimony. After being warned by Judge Lord Hardie (I wonder if there is a Judge Lord Laurel in Scotland), Corkish finally spit out the truth and identified Anderson as the killer.
After the guilty verdicts were rendered (The two murderer’s 35-year minimum term sentences were the largest ever handed down in Scotland), for some unknown reason, Judge Hardie sent Corkish immediately to jail for contempt of court, (Corkish did not pass “Go” and collect the customary $200), despite the fact that Corkish’s evidence was the key in the two murderer’s convictions.
Corkish languished in jail for a full 12 months, before three Appeal Court judges ruled Corkish could fly the coop, immediately. The reason for the reversal was because Strathclyde assistant chief constable Campbell Corrigan told the three judges it could hurt the fight against organized crime if a man ratted someone out, and was sent to jail anyway.
As we speak, Corkish is living somewhere in the Scottish version of the Witness Protection Program, which probably means he’s drinking in some dingy pub, hidden in the mountainous moors of Scotland.
I guess the moral of this story is (at least the Scottish moral of this story), if you’re going to be an informant, once the trial starts, immediately start ratting, put on your track shoes, and don a phony disguise.
Then get the heck out of Dodge City, Scotland.
The article below appeared in the UK Daily Record.
Supergrass freed after top cop says jail term ‘could hinder war on organised crime’
Aug 28 2010 Gordon Mcilwraith
A SUPERGRASS jailed for giving false evidence at a gangland murder trial has been freed – thanks to a police chief’s plea.
John Corkish, 46, was jailed for 12 months for contempt of court – despite later providing crucial evidence which led to the conviction of assassin Raymond “Rainbow” Anderson.
Yesterday, three Appeal Court judges overturned the jail sentence after Strathclyde assistant chief constable Campbell Corrigan told them it could hurt the fight against organised crime.
Corkish, who had been on bail pending his appeal and is living under a new identity at a secret location, was a key witness at the trial of Anderson, 48, and James McDonald, 36.
The pair, who shot a man dead in cold blood and wounded two others at a garage run by a rival crime clan, are now serving 35-year minimum term life sentences.
At their trial, Corkish, who was living in fear of his life, initially gave false evidence. But after a warning from trial judge Lord Hardie, he identified Anderson.
The judge went on to jail him for contempt, despite his evidence leading to the guilty verdict.
At the Appeal Court in Edinburgh yesterday, the judges said Mr Corrigan’s intervention was the “most powerful consideration” in allowing Corkish to walk free.
Lord Osborne, who heard the appeal with Lords Carloway and Bonomy, said the senior cop had supplied a statement arguing that if the sentence remained, it might deter others from coming forward in similar cases.
He added that Mr Corrigan’s plea was a “matter of great significance in a case in which charges of the most grave and sinister kind were brought to trial”.
Admonishing Corkish, the judges agreed the jail term was inappropriate and excessive.
They also stressed that the prosecution accepted Corkish’s fear for his safety before the trial was justifiable and that his life could still be in jeopardy.
The murder in 2006 at Applerow Motors in Lambhill, Glasgow, was part of a vicious turf war between the Daniel and Lyons crime families.
The gunmen opened fire just minutes after taxis collected pupils from a nearby special needs primary school.
The murdered man, Michael Lyons, 21, was the nephew of Lyons clan chief Eddie Lyons senior.
Steven Lyons, 29, one of the sons of Eddie Lyons, was shot in the leg as he tried to flee.
The third shot man, gangland enforcer Robert Pickett, 44, who had served time for attempted murder, was hit three times.
The hitmen’s 35-year minimum terms are the heaviest handed down in Scotland in modern times.
Supergrass (informer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Supergrass is a slang term for an informer, which originated in London. Informers had been referred to as “grasses” since the late-1930s, and the “super” prefix was coined by journalists in the early 1970s to describe those informers from the city’s underworld who testified against former associates in a series of high-profile mass trials at the time.[1] One of the first police informers to receive the ‘supergrass’ nickname was Bertie Smalls.
Contents
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In Northern Ireland, the term “supergrass” especially refers to arrested paramilitaries who divulged the identities of their compatriots to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, possibly in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Sir John Hermon did not deny reports that inducements were paid but denied figures as high as £50,000 were involved.[2] The use of the term in Northern Ireland began with the arrest of Christopher Black in 1981. After securing assurances that he would have protection from prosecution, Black gave statements which led to 38 arrests. On 5 August 1983, 22 members of the Provisional IRA were sentenced to a total of more than 4,000 cumulative years in prison, based on Black’s testimonies alone (eighteen of these convictions were overturned on appeal on 17 July 1986).[3]
By the end of 1982, 25 more ‘supergrasses’ had surfaced contributing to the arrests of over six hundred people from paramilitary organizations, such as the Provisional IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force.
On 11 April 1983, members of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force were jailed on the evidence of supergrass Joseph Bennett. These convictions were all overturned on 24 December 1984. In October 1983, seven people were convicted on the evidence provided by supergrass Kevin McGrady although the trial judge Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry had described McGrady’s evidence as “bizarre, incredible and contradictory”.[4] The last supergrass trial finished on 18 December 1985, when 25 members of the INLA were jailed on the evidence of Harry Kirkpatrick. 24 of these convictions were later overturned on 23 December 1986.
Many convictions based on supergrass testimony were later overturned, and the supergrass system was discontinued in 1985.
The term has been used more recently to describe an informant with al-Qaeda links testifying at the trials for seven British men conspiring to cause explosions between 1 January 2003 and 31 March 2004, and again on 2 July 2007 in an article in the Daily Mail describing a search for informants in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack.[5]
The term has also been used by The Royal Gazette, a daily newspaper in Bermuda, a British dependent territory. An article in the paper uses the term to describe a Transport Control Department worker convicted of selling driver’s licenses to Portuguese applicants lacking the necessary English skills to pass the multiple choice exam. The worker was granted a conditional discharge in exchange for information on other Transport Control Department employees abusing the public trust.[6]
One of the most prolific supergrasses in recent British history was Michael Michael whose evidence in 2001 led to 32 criminals being convicted, including his own mother, and the disruption of a £132milllion drugs ring.
I received an email from Ronan Falsey concerning the article below, where I commented on an article posted about the Irish Republican Army. The article appeared in the Irish Republic newspaper. Ronan pointed out some inaccuracies to me which I will attempt to correct.
First of all his brother first name is Dearan, not Darren. Also Dearan was 36 when he passed away, and not 37.
Most importantly, Ronan said his brother was not a drug dealer, and when the Gardi searched his property, they found no evidence of drugs. Also, the IRA issued no statement claiming any responsibility for Dearan’s killing, as they usually do. And finally Ronan said Dearan did not have any friend killed for not paying extortion money to the IRA.
Unfortunately, I comment on articles written throughout the world. These newspapers and magazines have fact checkers, so I can only assume what they have written is correct. I’m a one-person operation. And I write one post on my blog a day. It’s impossible for me to independently fact check articles that should have been fact checked already.
However, if anyone finds any inaccuracies in what I write, when I take my information from accredited news organizations, I will gladly correct the inaccuracies.
Joe Bruno
====================================================
The moral of this story is not to piss off the Irish Republican Army.
In a move right out the America Mafia, it seems that the IRA has been demanding protection money from every drug dealer in Ireland. The latest drug dealer, who has been killed because he refused to pay up, was Darren Falsey, who was murdered in what the Irish police (gardai) called a “professional hit.” The 37-year-old Falsey was shot soon after he returned to his Ashbourne Court home in Carrigaline, County Cork, after having visited a pal in Cork prison.
Last year the Real IRA compiled a list of drug dealers who were slated to be whacked because they had refused to make protection payments. Falsey was not on that original list, but it’s likely he was added later, after a friend was killed, reportedly because Falsey’s friend had refused to pay extortion money. The gardai then think Falsey was told to pay up a substantial bit of cash (from 50,000 to 80,000 pounds), and when he refused, he was given the same treatment as his pal.
The gardai, putting two and two together, think the IRA has come up with a new way to raise more money for their cause. And who better to extort this money from than drug dealers, who can’t run to the police once they’ve been threatened?
The Irish Independent in the article below say that “Gardai have been carefully monitoring the Real IRA in Cork amid concerns that a new leadership structure is trying to “bolster funding and recruitment levels.”
Still, the gardai feel it’s part of their job to protect all citizens, even those who ride on the wrong side of the law. So they have contracted numerous drug dealers, whom they believe to be on on the IRA’s “hit list,” and have advised them to “review their personal security,” which is a cute way of saying “Either hide your butt or get the hell out of Dodge City.”
Drug dealers, being the hard type of people they usually are, are not likely to listen too closely to the IRA, when the IRA is seeking to dig deeply into their drug profits. So expect a few more Irish drug dealers to bite the dust.
Worse things could happen.
The following article appeared in the Irish Independent
DRUG-GANG members who faced death threats last year from the Real IRA are being contacted about their personal safety following the murder of Darren Falsey.
Mr Falsey — who was associated with a major drugs gang on Cork’s southside — was murdered last Wednesday in what gardai now consider to have been a professional killing.
The 37-year-old was shot within minutes of returning to his Ashbourne Court home in Carrigaline, Co Cork, having visited a friend in Cork prison that morning.
Gardai are convinced that the killer had the rented house shared by Mr Falsey and his partner, Lorraine, under surveillance for some time.
Detectives are focused on two investigation theories: that the father of two either owed money to a major Cork criminal or was targeted because he refused to pay protection money to a dissident republican cell.
Last year, the Real IRA issued a list of named drug dealers that it threatened to kill.
Mr Falsey’s name was not on that list. However, an acquaintance of his was later assaulted in what detectives suspect was an attack by dissident republican supporters.
Gardai conducted raids over the past 18 months in which suspected dissident republican supporters were arrested after intelligence that attacks on named individuals were being planned.
The Real IRA claimed responsibility for the murder of Gerard ‘Topper’ Staunton (42), who was killed in front of his partner and her child in Wilton, Cork, in January 2010.
Mr Falsey got a bullet in the post last month although he did not subsequently upgrade his personal security.
Gardai are examining claims that attempts were made to extort ‘protection money’ of €50,000 to €80,000 from Mr Falsey over recent weeks.
Detectives are also trying to determine if other individuals in Cork have received extortion demands or death threats over recent months.
The Irish Independent understands that some individuals will be advised to review their personal security.
Senior gardai are concerned that dissident republicans may believe that extorting money from criminal figures offers a new fundraising avenue.
Gardai have been carefully monitoring the Real IRA in Cork amid concerns that a new leadership structure is trying to bolster funding and recruitment levels.
Joe Bruno on the Mob 