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 |
| Title | Capintesta of the Nostrini crime family |
| Term | 4 September 1908 – 6 February 1931 |
| Predecessor | Carmine Nostrini |
| Successor | Salvatore Nostrini |
| 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
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]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.
From 1878 to 1884, Raffaele helped fight the Società della Lanterna, a Genoese criminal organization trying to seize the Naples port. After Carmine rejected Lorenzo Bruzzo's proposal to divide port income, Raffaele identified merchants who had accepted Lanterna credit. Collection records then led him to the officials and warehouse owners supporting the rival group.
The Nostrini–Lanterna conflict involved attacks on collectors and the destruction of cargo. Both organizations abducted and killed members accused of informing. After a failed attempt on Carmine in 1881, Raffaele selected the Lanterna businesses targeted in the Nostrini retaliation. Records obtained from a shipping clerk later exposed the rival payment network. The Nostrini destroyed the Lanterna's Naples leadership in 1884 and absorbed part of its cartage and warehouse network.
By the late 1880s, Raffaele directed daily operations. Carmine continued to settle disputes and approve appointments.
Leadership of the organization
[edit | edit source]Carmine died on 4 September 1908. Raffaele succeeded him as capintesta of the Nostrini crime family.[3] His brothers became the first members of the consiglio maggiore. 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 hid a records office inside a property business. Its clerks kept leases and named the business owners who secretly held Nostrini property. One set of books showed tax officials the declared income. Secret ledgers recorded protection money, unpaid debts and bribes to officials. The clerks also copied contracts and kept written orders from Raffaele.
Regional managers supervised collectors in different parts of Naples. A secretary wrote down Raffaele's decisions, while a cashier checked incoming money against the ledgers. Guards protected Nostrini businesses and attacked owners who refused to pay. Couriers carried records between the main office and individual premises.
The family continued to earn money from private clubs and gambling debts. Raffaele hid some protection payments in ordinary business accounts. A shopkeeper might be forced to use a transport company chosen by the Nostrini or pay guards assigned by Luigi. The business owner collected the money and passed the family's share to Raffaele's cashier. Debtors could lose their businesses to owners selected by the Nostrini. Allied hauliers and warehouse owners also helped the family steal cargo and collect commercial debts.
First World War
[edit | edit source]During the First World War, hauliers working with Raffaele carried military and commercial cargo through Naples. Allied warehouse owners rented space to government contractors, while municipal clerks directed supply work to businesses chosen by the family. False delivery records concealed stolen cargo, which merchants sold for the Nostrini. The profits bought more vehicles and helped the family decide which drivers received work at the port.
Relations with Italian Fascism
[edit | edit source]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. Local Fascist leader Aurelio Padovani arranged the introduction. Raffaele promised trucks, drivers, guards and warehouse space for the movement. He also paid for food. Mussolini promised government transport work to businesses recommended by Raffaele if the Fascists took power. Party officials later pressured public offices to award those contracts.
Raffaele joined and financed the National Fascist Party. During the anti-crime campaign in Campania in 1926 and 1927, he publicly supported the government and gave investigators information about independent rivals. Authorities prosecuted expendable collectors and closed premises the family no longer needed. Senior members hid records naming party officials. Nostrini-backed businesses kept their contracts because they were not registered as family property. Allied owners also acquired premises taken from rivals.
By the late 1920s, public-contract fraud earned more money than the original clubs. Hauliers paid Raffaele to secure port work, and warehouse owners gave him part of their government payments. Demolition companies paid for protection and access to municipal officials. Labour agents also deducted Nostrini payments from workers' wages. Businesses inflated invoices or claimed that incomplete deliveries were finished. The owner, the Nostrini and the official protecting the fraud divided the extra money.
Death and succession
[edit | edit source]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.