Saputo Cheese Ltd and the Bonnano Family in Montreal

[Laurentian]

The cheese mafia chart

This comes probably from a report of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission titled
A Report Of The Study Organized Crime's Infiltration Of The Pizza And Cheese Industry. March 1980.

[CabriniGreen]

Caputo seems like a version of Angelo Ponte, in Canada.... both were Knights of Malta, which is another whole different type of mafia/ masonry...

[Laurentian]

Here is a video from CBC on past relationships of Saputo with the Mafia

Saputo's past connections with mafia boss

Lino Saputo has always denied any connection to the Mafia. But never-before-seen documents obtained by Radio-Canada's Enquête program dispute that. They show Quebec's richest man maintained a hidden relationship with Mafia boss Joe Bonanno, until the late 1970's. Bonnano was one of the most notorious criminals in the history of the United States.

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1676171843669

[motorfab]

Joe Bonanno had some sort of gambling operation in Haiti, during the rule of Papa Doc Duvalier and I belive he stayed there for some time in the mid 60s.

Supposedly Joe Zicarelli was friendly with the leaders of both the Dominican Republic and Venezuela during the time Bonanno was boss. Zicarelli had gambling consessions in the Dominican Republic and was supposedly involved in an arms deal in Venezuela during the late 50s.

In fact, it was Vito DeFilippo, then a caporegime, who was in charge of the operations.

It seems that Paul Volpe for Buffalo was also involved in Casino operations over there

He was involved in them with DeFilippo actually. DeFilippo became the liaison to Canada for the Bonanno family after Carmine Galante was deported and incarcerated. What's interesting about that is DeFilippo not only visited Montreal but also Toronto, where he became close to Volpe and had those international interests with him. So we have DeFilippo representing Bonanno's interests in both Haiti and Canada, with intersection between them.

I knew about DeFilippo's Haitian casino interests, which were similar to what a lot of mafia figures had going on in Cuba and the Dominican Republic in that era, but it slipped my mind. Of course he was representing Joe Bonanno. Thanks for the reminder, in addition to the bit about Zicarelli, who was another Galante crew member.

Yes it also seemed to me that he was associated with DeFilippo but I was not sure, thank you for confirming. Speaking of liaision after the deportation of Galante, the position was not briefly occupied by Salvatore Giglio before he was himself deported before DeFilippo? I had read this in the extract of a book (Mafia Inc I think) and in an article found on the net ...

[B.]

That could very well be right. Galante was deported in 1956, DeFilippo was inducted in 1957, and Vic Cotroni is believed to have become official capodecina in 1961. That leaves some different possibilities in between, but I should add that I don't believe DeFilippo ever held a "position" so much as a go-between role. Similar to how Rastelli and Marangello were reported as the liaisons with Montreal when Natale Evola was boss, but neither was the capodecina over Montreal. Giglio was a Bronx-based member of the Galante crew, like DeFilippo, so yet another example of the Bronx-Montreal connection.

[antimafia]

Cross-posting.
————————-
The YouTube link to the French-language TV episode of Enquête that aired last Thursday night is below.

https://youtu.be/5ZOWdCrzKwI

The video is just over 40 minutes long. I have yet to view it.

Please let me know whether you are able to view it in the country where you reside — you need not tell me where you live, and I actually prefer you don’t.

[motorfab]

It works very well for me and in the right language. Thank you antimafia.

[Lupara]

Works for me too.

[antimafia]

La bonne réputation

https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2020 ... tation.php

[antimafia]

Grande cheese has a few locations here in Toronto and is very popular

The Grande Cheese company in the Greater Toronto Area, founded by three families in the mid-1950s, doesn’t have any connection to the storied Grande Cheese in the US, which was founded in 1941. One of the websites — I can’t remember which — states that the two companies are not affiliated. I’ll try to look this up later.

The Contardis were one of the three aforementioned founding families of independent cheesemaker Grande Cheese. The Contardis, who have ancestry from Puglia, eventually became the owners outright. Their relatives the Pelosis were involved with the company, but I don’t know to what extent.

[Moscone65]

Grande cheese has a few locations here in Toronto and is very popular

The Grande Cheese company in the Greater Toronto Area, founded by three families in the mid-1950s, doesn’t have any connection to the storied Grande Cheese in the US, which was founded in 1941. One of the websites — I can’t remember which — states that the two companies are not affiliated. I’ll try to look this up later.

The Contardis were one of the three aforementioned founding families of independent cheesemaker Grande Cheese. The Contardis, who have ancestry from Puglia, eventually became the owners outright. Their relatives the Pelosis were involved with the company, but I don’t know to what extent.

Are the ones in san jose the same as the ones in milwaukee?

[motorfab]

I just watched the video posted by antimafia, it's edifying. Nothing more compared to the article from ici.radio.canada except that Saputo & his wife were the best man & woman of the wedding of Donald Côté a criminal involved in robberies, drug trafficking and several murders associated with Cotroni & Violi (i didn't know him). The passage during Nicolo Rizzuto's wedding anniversary where he is welcomed with an orchestra playing the theme of The Godfather is priceless (it is around the 32nd minute).

I still have two questions:

-How after being assaulted by Violi, Saputo was he able to maintain such close links with Cotroni-Violi-Bonanno etc ... (even if he is constrained I find it absurd, is he stupid or amnesic ? His brother in law is also involved and seems close to these guys too)

-About 37 minutes during another wedding anniversary of Nick Rizzuto we see a notorious drug trafficker but his name is not mentioned. Anyone know who this is?

[B.]

The photo appears to be Emanuele Ragusa.

[antimafia]

The person in the vidcap bears a resemblance to Emanuele Ragusa.

Could you perhaps clarify your first question? Joe Bonanno’s attempt to immigrate to Canada in the 1960s, along with Giuseppe Saputo’s assistance in this regard via a letter, is well documented (even in Bonanno’s autobiography).

[Lupara]

The photo appears to be Emanuele Ragusa.

Good one. It's him or his dopplegänger.