Are Sicilian mobsters going green? According to reports coming out of Southern Italy, it appears that they're doing the damnedest to muscle, bribe and cheat their way into the wind power business. Italian investigators have made a string of arrests relating to a proposed Sicilian wind farm project in which officials were allegedly bribed with luxury cars and cash in exchange for awarding the contract to a mafia-backed company. In some ways, I guess wind farms seem like a great business for the mob. Like their current favorite -- the waste management biz -- huge contracts are doled out by less-than-perfect officials, and all crime bosses have to do is hire some people who know what they're doing and watch the money roll in. The only trick is securing the contracts. Apparently, red flags were raised when the mafia stole a rival bid from Mazara de Vallo's municipal vault, then submitted a contract obviously based on the stolen version. I know this sounds like something out of unimaginative Mario Puzo rip-off novel, but I'm not making this up.
[via CleanTechnica]
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