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'Mafia links' halted Trump plan to build Sydney casino

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Donald Trump's plan to build and operate Sydney's first casino were killed off due to police concerns over his consortium's 'mafia connections', according to documents made public after 30 years The now US president was in the running for the contract in 1987 with joint venture partner the Kern Corporation, but Australian police were so concerned they recommended it be excluded. At the time, Trump operated two casinos in Atlantic City -- Trump Plaza and Trump's Castle, and was close to owning a third. "Atlantic City would be a dubious model for Sydney and in our judgement, the Trump Mafia connections should exclude the Kern/Trump consortium," the New South Wales Police Board said in report dated April 3, 1987. A summary of the board's position was contained in cabinet minutes from the then-NSW Labor government on May 4 that year, released Thursday after being declassified and confirming revelations in The Australian newspaper last month

A Mafia Boss Has Been Arrested in Uruguay After 23 Years on the Run

Police in Uruguay have arrested one of Italy's most wanted fugitives — the so-called "cocaine king of Milan"— who had been hiding out in the South American country for more than a decade. Rocco Morabito, a boss of the Calabria-based Ndrangheta crime group, which controls much of the world's cocaine trade, had been on the run for 23 years in total, the Guardian reports. He is subject to a 30-year prison sentence in Italy after attempting to smuggle almost a tonne of cocaine into the country from Brazil in the 1990s. Morabito's arrest at a luxury Montevideo hotel on Monday follows a six-month investigation by Uruguayan police, who were reportedly alerted to his presence when he registered his daughter at a local school using his real name instead of an alias. Italian and Uruguayan authorities cited by the Guardian said that Morabito, 50, had long been living in Uruguay's southern coastal resort of Punta del Esta under an assumed identity. He is thought

Cheating mafia: UP Board to summon random copies from sensitive districts to control copying

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The evaluation process of the UP Board — one of biggest examination bodies of the world in terms of examinees — is set to kick off at 253 evaluation centres from April 27. The Uttar Pradesh Board of Secondary Education has decided to randomly summon answer sheets from districts infamous for mass copying and get it checked by experts in Allahabad. The step will help in the assessment of students of these districts and also detect foul play by copying mafia. It will also help the Board officials to get a benchmark of average marks for certain districts and minimize the possibility of over marking or biased evaluation by examiners. After deciding to get the copies of students scoring over 90 per cent in Board examinations re-evaluated by senior examiners, this is another attempt by the Board to rein in copying mafia. Many schools also try to illegally secure higher marks for some of its students to ensure their names on the merit list as the overall good result attract more stu

Muslim properties being grabbed by land mafia at Akali Dal-BJP leaders' behest: Mann

ROPAR : Akali Dal ( Amritsar ) president Simranjit Singh Mann today alleged that the Muslim properties in the state were being grabbed by the land mafia and builders at the behest of Akali Dal and BJP leaders . While talking to media persons after visiting the graveyard of Muslim community at village Kotla Nihang   near Ropar to see the ‘ encroachment ’ made on it, Mann alleged that Waqf Board was hand in glove with land mafia in allowing grabbing of its properties. Mann said that he had come to Kotla Nihang to assure his support to the members of Muslim community ,who were fighting against grabbing of their graveyard by the land mafia and builders. He asked the members of Muslim community to give an application to him so that their grievance could be sent to National Human Rights Commission and Minorities Commission . Mann also criticised the state government over ‘ deteriorating ’ law and order situation in the state and alleged that Police i

Diplomat lambasted 'Mafia culture'

THE Argentines were regarded by a senior Irish diplomat as "morbidly estranged from reality" and a people governed by a Mafia class. In a withering dissection of " Latin psyche ", the embassy in Buenos Aires sent a 17-page advisory to Dublin : a character assassination teed up with an assertion that the locals are psychologically dangerous. The cable, titled " Understanding Argentina " and dated November 24, 1982, was sent to the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs , Iveagh House , Dublin . It was contained in a file marked " travel costs ". It was intended to be an overview of Argentine affairs following a year of turmoil and the country 's defeat over the Falklands . Thirty years later, it reads like an offensive catalogue of stereotypes. The cable states : "As a nation – if they are a nation , and that is part of the pathology – they are morbidly estranged from reality. "To attempt an exhaustive c

Italy’s confused election gets another twist with anti-Mafia prosecutor joining Democrats

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ROME — Italy ’s confused election campaign took another twist Friday with the country ’s respected national anti-Mafia prosecutor joining ranks with the center-left Democratic Party , a big-name boost for a party that is already leading in the polls ahead of the February vote . A day earlier, Premier Mario Monti got an even bigger endorsement for his potential candidacy from the Vatican newspaper after winning a not-so-subtle thumbs up from the pope himself on Christmas Day . Almost left behind in the jockeying was Italy ’s most colorful politician , Silvio Berlusconi , who was on the front pages of Italy ’s leading daily Friday for an entirely other reason. Corriere della Sera revealed details of his divorce settlement with his second wife Veronica Lario , showing that he must pay her €3 million ($4 million) a month. He gets to keep the house, however. Italians vote Feb. 24-25 in general elections after a yearlong experiment with Monti ’s technocratic governmen

Sicilian judges freeze Mafia money in Valletta-based company

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Wind energy company held in Valletta fiduciary company targeted by Palermo investigators hunting Mafia boss of bosses. Matteo Massimo Denaro identikit . Sicilian anti-mafia judges have issued a freezing order on assets and money registered under a Valletta-based company which investigations have revealed to be connected to one of the world 's most wanted mafia bosses , Matteo Messina Denaro . Known to be the current ' boss of bosses' to Sicily 's notorious ' Cosa Nostra ', Denaro was always considered to be the Mafia 's most prolific financial brain , who invested and laundered billions of drug and extortion money all over the world, including Malta on various occasions. On the run for the past 25 years, Denaro has this week hit the headlines in Italy for his connections to the highly lucrative sector of renewable energy . Months of investigations in Palermo have yielded Denaro 's links to Sicily 's wind farm energy