Raffaele Nostrini (crime boss)
Raffaele Nostrini | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 April 1848 |
| Died | 6 February 1931 (aged 82) |
| Occupation | Crime boss |
| Years active | 14 March 1872 – 6 February 1931 |
| Era | |
| Organization | Nostrini crime family |
| Known for | Leading the Nostrini crime family from 1908 to 1931 |
| Political party | National Fascist Party |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Spouse | Teresa Romano (m. 1871) |
| Children | Salvatore Nostrini |
| Parents | |
| Family | Noord family |
Raffaele Nostrini (16 April 1848 – 6 February 1931) was an Italian crime boss who led the Nostrini crime family in Naples from 4 September 1908 until his death. He entered the organization under his father, Carmine Nostrini. Before succeeding Carmine, he reorganized how the organization collected and recorded payments. His later expansion into port businesses gave the organization access to public contracts. He also established its political relationship with the National Fascist Party.
Early life and family
Raffaele was born in Naples to Carmine Nostrini and Rosalia Esposito. He was the eldest of their eight children. His brothers later held defined positions in Carmine's organization. His sisters married men connected to its commercial network.[1]
Raffaele married Teresa Romano on 15 September 1871. Their son, Salvatore Nostrini, was born on 2 February 1873. Salvatore first learned arithmetic. He later received instruction in bookkeeping and commercial correspondence.
Career under Carmine Nostrini
On 14 March 1872, Carmine placed Raffaele in charge of collections from the family's clubs.[2] Raffaele replaced irregular visits with fixed weekly payment days. He assigned collectors to specific streets and made them record payments in handwritten ledgers. Numbered receipts carried the names of legitimate businesses so that the payments appeared to be ordinary commercial expenses.
Raffaele also reviewed unpaid gambling debts. He decided when a payment could be delayed. His reports to Carmine stated the total income received. Businesses that refused to pay were visited by guards under Luigi Nostrini. As the system grew, warehouse clerks maintained the collection records. Bookkeepers checked their totals against the money delivered to Raffaele.
Raffaele coordinated this work with his brothers. Vincenzo Nostrini managed gambling payments near the port. Luigi directed the guards. Michele Nostrini maintained the debt records, which allowed Raffaele to review unpaid balances. Pasquale Nostrini managed payments from private rooms. By the late 1880s, Raffaele directed daily operations. Carmine continued to settle disputes and approve appointments.
Leadership of the organization
Carmine died on 4 September 1908. Raffaele succeeded him as head of the Nostrini crime family.[3] His brothers became the first members of an internal council. Each brother advised Raffaele on the part of the business he already managed. The council administered the criminal organization. Succession within the wider Noord family remained under its existing family authority.
Raffaele established a records office within one of the property businesses used by the organization. Its clerks maintained leases for premises whose registered proprietors cooperated with him. Private ownership records identified proprietors who held property on behalf of the organization. Internal ledgers recorded protection payments and outstanding debts. The books shown to tax officials contained only the income declared by each business. A separate set recorded criminal income. It also identified payments made to public officials. Clerks copied contracts by hand and preserved Raffaele's decisions in correspondence.
District managers supervised collectors assigned to defined parts of Naples. A secretary recorded each decision and prepared the resulting correspondence. Money sent to the central office passed through a cashier, who checked it against the collection ledgers. Guards protected controlled premises. They also enforced demands against businesses that failed to pay. Couriers carried records between the central office and individual establishments.
The organization continued to earn money from private clubs. Gambling debts remained another source of income. Raffaele used cooperating businessmen to conceal some extortion payments as ordinary expenses. A shopkeeper could be compelled to hire a designated cartage operator. Another proprietor might be required to pay guards assigned by Luigi. The cooperating proprietor collected the charge before passing the Nostrini share to Raffaele's cashier. Debtors who failed to repay private loans could be forced to transfer their businesses to proprietors selected by the organization. Agreements with cartage operators gave the Nostrini access to cargo at the port. Cooperating warehouse proprietors stored diverted goods and helped enforce commercial debts.
First World War
During the First World War, Raffaele arranged for cooperating cartage operators to carry military and commercial cargo through Naples. Warehouse proprietors within his network rented space to government contractors. Clerks in municipal offices directed supply work to businessmen recommended by the organization. Some delivery records understated the cargo received. The missing portion was sold through merchants who shared the proceeds with Raffaele. Cartage operators used part of their profit to acquire additional vehicles. The organization decided which drivers received work from those operators, increasing its influence over port labour.
Relations with Italian Fascism
After the war, Raffaele financed Fascist organizers in Naples. Nostrini premises provided rooms for their meetings. Cartage operators within his network moved party personnel to political gatherings. The organization sent guards against socialist organizers. These guards also confronted striking workers employed by cooperating businesses. Salvatore became the organization's liaison with local Fascist officials.
On 24 October 1922, Raffaele and Salvatore met Benito Mussolini at the Grand Hotel Vesuvio after the Fascist gathering in Naples. The introduction was arranged through Aurelio Padovani, who led the Fascist organization in the Naples area. Raffaele agreed to obtain trucks from cartage operators who owed him money or protection. Cooperating warehouse proprietors made storage space available to Fascist organizers. The Nostrini supplied drivers and assigned guards to the stored property. Raffaele also financed food for the transported personnel. Mussolini promised access to government transport work for businessmen recommended by Raffaele after the Fascists took power. Local party officials subsequently conveyed those recommendations to the public offices that awarded the work.
Raffaele became a member and financial patron of the National Fascist Party. During the anti-crime campaign in Campania in 1926 and 1927, he publicly supported the government. The organization gave investigators information about independent rivals. Authorities prosecuted lower-ranking collectors and closed premises that the organization could abandon without disrupting its income. Senior administrators moved records that identified party officials. Businessmen protected by the organization retained their contracts because they were not registered as Nostrini enterprises. Cooperating proprietors acquired premises taken from rival operators.
By the late 1920s, the organization's share of public contracts produced more income than the original clubs. Cartage operators paid Raffaele for recommendations that secured port work. Warehouse proprietors surrendered part of the money received for storing public supplies. Demolition contractors paid for protection and access to municipal officials. Labour agents supplied temporary workers to these contractors and deducted a payment for the organization from their wages. Cooperating businesses inflated invoices to increase the value of each contract. They also recorded incomplete deliveries as complete. The excess was divided between the proprietor, the Nostrini administration and the official who protected the fraud.
Death and succession
Raffaele's health declined during 1930. Salvatore began chairing meetings and approving contracts on his behalf. Raffaele died in Naples on 6 February 1931 at the age of 82.
The senior administrators met after his death. Salvatore presented the ownership records. He also showed that he controlled the organization's political agreements. Raffaele's surviving brothers attended through their representatives when necessary. The meeting recognized Salvatore as boss, and he formally assumed control on 7 February. The organization's political intermediary informed Fascist officials of the succession. Its existing contracts then continued under Salvatore.