Vendetta: Truth, Lies and the Mafia (2021) s01e03 Episode Script

- [gloomy music playing]
- [thunder rumbling]
Silvana Saguto, the former president
of the preventive measures department
of the Court of Palermo,
has been removed from the judiciary.
[newscaster] No mitigation
for the former president.
The Superior Council of the Judiciary
has given Silvana Saguto
its highest disciplinary sanction,
expulsion from the judiciary.
[Saguto] The Council has expelled me
from the judiciary,
not just before my trial,
but without even hearing me!
That's never happened before in Italy.
JUSTICE
I never thought that my colleagues
would have believed what Maniaci started.
I never thought
that my career would end like this.
I expected that it would end
at the hands of the Mafia,
that they'd blow me up.
I never thought that I'd end up on trial.
[music turning suspenseful]
How can someone
accused of extortion be credible?
[music building up]
[theme music playing]
A NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY SERIES
[music fading out]
[reporter 1] Assignments, favors,
confidential information,
engagements, and gifts
in the offices of the preventive measures
department of the Court of Palermo.
[reporter 2] Investigators
are examining material from the inquiry
that is shaking up the system
that manages fortunes
seized from organized crime.
With the documents
and telephone recordings,
the judges already have enough material
to try to back up the allegations.
[horns honking]
[music fading]
[Saguto] I'm still completely shocked
and surprised by this trial.
There are 39 charges.
Among them, for example,
is one for criminal association,
allegedly, between me, my husband,
and a high-up judicial administrator.
The other very serious charge
is corruption.
This administrator,
supposedly, gave us €20,000.
I manage billions, and I take €20,000?
That adds up to
a few paychecks for a judge,
which is really it's ridiculous.
Among the many absurd charges,
[calm music playing]
there is one that's completely ridiculous.
I've been accused
of owning firearms without a license.
Now, like any other judge
I have permission to carry firearms
because of my job,
because I am a judge.
I have my card here.
And on the back, it says,
"Valid for carrying firearms
without a license."
I could even carry a bazooka,
because all judges can.
[music building up]
What bothers me the most
was that to get to me,
they also incriminated my family.
My husband was accused
because the administrator
gave him contracts.
[reporter 1] Just a few people managed
the seized assets from the Mafia
for wildly inflated fees.
[reporter 2] The judges in Caltanissetta
are investigating Silvana Saguto,
as well as her husband,
and one of the top judicial administrators
in all of Italy.
At the center of investigation
is the exchange of favors.
SILVANA SAGUTO'S HUSBAND
IS A TECHNICAL CONSULTAN
WHO EVALUATED THE MAFIA ASSETS
SEIZED BY
THE PREVENTIVE MEASURES DEPARTMEN
I've been accused of not carrying out
the work I was paid for,
of being paid more than
erm I should have been.
Of course, I feel completely betrayed.
It's deeply disappointing.
Hi, Dad.
- Hi.
- Come in.
- How are you?
- Good, you?
Not bad.
What made me really angry
was involving my parents.
My dad, who is 91 years old,
was accused of money laundering
for giving me €15,000.
When you're 90,
it's already hard to understand,
but I don't think he even knows
what "money laundering" means.
He gave me some of his money,
like he's done all my life.
[church bells ringing]
There's no logic. And if there's no logic,
it means there's something behind it.
[calm music playing]
Amongst the people Pino Maniaci is helping
is the Cavalotti family.
The Cavallotti family are entrepreneurs
from Belmonte Mezzagno,
which is a town
with a very high Mafia population.
The Cavallotti family couldn't have built
their fortune through legal means.
They had millions of euros
of discrepancies.
They couldn't prove where it came from.
They're a bunch of dishonest people.
[somber music playing]
CAVALLOTTI FAMILY'S VILLAS
[birds chirping]
We were the first entrepreneurs,
in Sicily and in Italy,
to supply methane to towns
that didn't get state funding
for setting up a methane supply system.
WARNING
FLAMMABLE GAS
We had a turnover
of around 20 billion liras per year,
that would be €12 million today,
for the whole group.
We saw that we could supply methane
with little money.
With our funds
and a small loan from the banks.
Mayors called us every day.
We basically already had
more than 100 towns,
in Sicily.
We annoyed very important people.
The real Mafia
are those wearing white collars.
They are the ones who destroyed us.
It was all built
on everything that Saguto did,
if we're naming names.
Before we got a verdict from this judge,
she sold our businesses.
But we'll be back.
We'll fight the courts as long as we live
to get our things back, legally.
THE CAVALLOTTI FAMILY ARE CAMPAIGNING
TO CHANGE THE LAW ON PREVENTIVE MEASURES
[activist] Attention,
citizens of Belmonte.
We ask that you sign
the eight proposals to change the law.
This is a people's initiative
against the system.
Sign for a fairer legal system.
We'll be at Coffice
from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
and from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Citizens of Belmonte
[Pietro] A country
which has preventive measures
cannot be a free country.
This is an issue
that hasn't just affected one family,
it's hit the economy of a whole town.
Shit. They're stuck together. Wait.
This is why we support the fight
for a reform
of the preventive measures system.
For freedom and against the system.
You worked for Euro Impianti.
If you could kindly sign,
it won't hurt you.
We're collecting signatures
towards setting a clear definition
of when preventive measures
can be enforced.
We want to change the concept
of "participating in a Mafia group."
Can you see all the people signing?
- When people understand, they sign.
- Sure, sure.
[Pietro] What's happened to us
can happen to anyone.
The Cavallotti case
symbolizes all the seizures.
[Pino] We can say
that it's the mother of all seizures.
If this seizure falls,
preventive measures falls.
Saguto's system would crumble.
[Saguto] I don't know why Maniaci
has joined the Cavallotti cause.
I know that Maniaci doesn't do
anything for nothing.
Someone has used him.
[dramatic music playing]
The Mafia has benefited most
from all of this, from my trial.
A journalist came to me,
almost mocking me, saying,
"You know, now you've left,
nothing has been seized. Nothing."
Of course, the Mafia is thankful.
Pino!
- [Pino] Hello, how's it going?
- You're as kind as always.
[somber music playing]
MARCH 2018
[dogs barking]
That's enough, Chira. That's enough!
When I found out
that my dad was being tried for extortion,
my world fell around me.
I said, "No, it can't be true."
- [Letizia] Have we got any small plates?
- [Pino] You have to get the candles too.
- Put on the candles!
- [son] You should put cigarettes.
Next year, we'll do that!
Happy birthday to Pino! ♪
Happy birthday to you! ♪
- [Patrizia] Bravo!
- [son] We can do it, that's enough.
[Giovanni] Yay! [laughing]
I'm still young, damn it!
Take ten years off me.
[Patrizia] I'll take more
than ten years off of you.
My dad pretends to be fine,
but in reality
this whole situation has shaken him up.
Not knowing how the trial will end,
we're all worried.
[cheerful music playing]
APRIL 2018
Today is an important day for
for Pino Maniaci's trial.
The former Mayor of Borgetto
wants to destroy the Telejato station
with these extortion allegations,
and get it closed down.
[dramatic music playing]
No one has ever seen
an extortion of €366 before.
However, it's still a serious charge,
because extortion
is a typical Mafia crime.
The punishment is a serious sentence,
from five to ten years.
It's not a joke.
Ending up in prison
convicted for extortion
would be the end of Pino Maniaci
and Telejato.
People feel
like they've lost faith in the judiciary
MANIACI TRIAL
EXTORTION CHARGE
WITNESS: DE LUCA
[Judge] Hello.
[Parrino] Morning, Your Honor.
Morning, Public Prosecutor.
[Judge] Let's begin the hearing.
Giuseppe Maniaci here present,
defended by his lawyer, Mr. Parrino.
For the civil parties, Gioacchino De Luca.
"With my testimony, I accept to uphold
my moral and legal duty.
I swear to tell the whole truth
and not to hide any facts
that I am aware of."
PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
- Go ahead.
- Mr. De Luca, let's start.
Did you give money to Pino Maniaci?
[De Luca] Yes.
A lot.
I gave him money on several occasions
because he would broadcast
bulletins on the news.
- [Luise] What did he do on the bulletins?
- Attacked me.
He attacked the administration.
So, following these reports
that he presented on the news program,
what did he ask of you?
He asked me for money
to give me the opportunity to respond.
Because at that time, at 2:15 pm,
an anti-Mafia TV channel
that a lot of people watched,
my son, my father, my wife,
it was fertile ground
to spread biased and fake news.
And he attacked us.
JANUARY 2016
This Mayor is not fit
to run the town of Borgetto at all.
The soap opera of Borgetto's Mayor,
De Luca, continues.
NOVEMBER 2015
Absolute silence
from the Borgetto Council
about the demolition of a school.
[De Luca] Because Pino Maniaci
makes a certain type of television,
where he tells lies,
he's starting to broadcast
negative stories about administrators.
If you wanna respond,
you have to pay
to respond to the accusations
and the things
that Pino Maniaci is saying.
It's a small amount of money,
but it's constant,
every week, every month,
every mayor, and every administrator.
It was protection money
for all intents and purposes.
It was extortion
for all intents and purposes.
Argh, that's Maniaci's system.
COURT OF LAW
If you didn't give him money,
would he threaten you?
- [De Luca] Yes.
- How so?
There were lots of things that he said.
There was nothing I could do
because he had a strong position,
he was powerful.
He was someone you couldn't attack,
irreproachable,
he's an anti-Mafia leader like no other.
I am completely outraged and disgusted
about everything
that's happening to me and my family.
I don't mean "family"
as Pino Maniaci would
because as soon as you say "family,"
you mean it's the Mafia family!
Because he didn't know
what to say, what to make up
to try and extort money from me.
Since I met the prosecutor,
I have shaken off Pino Maniaci
and everything he represents,
which isn't the anti-Mafia.
How much money
did you give to Pino Maniaci
to tone down the news bulletins?
The amount [sighs] varied, let's say 200,
300 euros. That's around the amount.
And how much money
did he ask you for this instance?
He asked me for €366.
I remember it well
because he reminded me a million times!
Three sixty-six plus 100,
that was the amount.
[Pino] I asked for what was mine.
His wife was advertising
her toy shop on Telejato,
and he was paying for it.
That's it. End of story.
It was a commercial
that went on air, all viewers
could see it on every newscast.
Can you explain to everyone, Mr. Mayor,
what this commercial is? Let's see it.
[upbeat music playing]
[woman] Toys and Paper Borgetto
has all the new releases for you.
With a wide range of gadgets,
purses, and perfumes,
bicycles, baby walkers, tractors, and cars
to make your children happy.
Find us in Borgetto,
at via Piersanti Mattarella 38,
in front of Villa Comunale.
This was broadcast for free for you.
The payment for the commercial
to be broadcast for the Mayor of Borgetto.
For anyone who has a commercial with us,
knows that our budget is €300
plus VAT per month,
€366.
Mr. Maniaci invited me
to do a commercial on his TV station.
I'm a public figure.
He's the head of Telejato,
so you'd need a contract and an invoice.
There are no invoices and no contracts,
and I asked him millions of times.
They're not there.
[Luise] So you didn't give him money
for the commercial on this occasion
Absolutely not!
[Luise] I see.
Your Honor, I have no further questions.
Defense, go ahead.
Good morning, Mr. De Luca.
I'm Mr. Parrino,
Mr. Maniaci's defense counsel.
Good morning.
[Parrino] So
[somber music playing]
Listen, you said that you had
a commercial with Pino Maniaci.
Is that right?
What he would do
is make me pay two
or three months in advance
because he needed money.
When he was supposed to stop showing
the damn commercial, he didn't stop.
So, did you say to Pino Maniaci,
"Enough. I don't want more dealings
with you for the commercials"?
Of course. I said to him, "Look, I paid
for the commercial for these months.
No need to show it anymore,"
and he carried on anyway,
showing the commercial.
And why didn't you report him before?
I couldn't counterattack
an anti-Mafia figure
with connections everywhere.
Challenging him, reporting him
would have had
a terrible reaction in the media.
How could I defend myself?
No further questions, Your Honor.
Thank you.
[Judge] Very well.
[calm music playing]
[Pino] This trial is a sham.
Pino Maniaci's crime
was targeting
the preventive measures department
of the Court of Palermo.
They wanted to screw with me,
so they had to find something on me.
They used De Luca
because of the money, which
which they could use,
or better twist, in their favor.
EXCEPT TELEJATO
Look, this TV station has its own path.
It always has.
Fight the Mafia, no ifs, no buts.
Of course, they all claim to be victims
of of my of my attacks.
[Pino talking on the screen]
We have reason to believe
that the Borgetto Council has powerful
MARCH 2014
figures
in its administration.
Powerful figures in its administration.
Hi.
[Pino] De Luca
is an unreliable individual.
He has to respond to very serious crimes
because within his administration,
we found out
that there were
some very shady characters who were
well known in Borgetto
and who had connections
to the local Mafia.
I think that the whole operation
in Borgetto is ironically,
because of our reports.
Welcome to today's Telejato News.
AUGUST 2014
There's been a lot of controversy
around the Mayor's visit to America,
and certain meetings.
[horns honking]
[dramatic music playing]
IN 2014 MAYOR DE LUCA LED
A PARTY OF BORGETTO COUNSELORS
AND SOME PRIVATE CITIZENS
ON A TRIP TO NEW YORK
THEY TOOK
BORGETTO'S HOLY MADONNA WITH THEM
TO SHOW HER
TO THE IMMIGRANT POPULATION OF THE CITY
It was the community's dream
for the Madonna to come here to New York.
Since the start,
we've been welcomed with open arms.
It's been a wonderful success.
It'll go in the history books.
[music slowing down]
[Pino] This whole thing is a joke.
In America, the Madonna
was received by a Mafia big shot.
So, this is when they arrived.
There was a Mafia presence
welcoming the Borgetto delegation.
This is One-handed Frank,
unmistakable because he's lost a hand.
He's a high-ranking mafioso
originally from Borgetto,
who moved to America to flee
the arrest warrants out for him.
[suspenseful music playing]
FRANCESCO RAPPA WAS BORN IN SICILY IN 1935
AND IS WANTED
IN ITALY FOR MAFIA ASSOCIATION
This individual
is always in the foreground.
He's always close to the Council members.
And as you can see, the Mayor
is close too, just two steps away.
Here, he's in front of him.
Can you see where he is?
He's in front of the Mayor now.
He's always close to them.
[sinister music playing]
[music fading out]
[sinister music playing]
[doorbell ringing]
- Hello.
- Hi, Gioacchino. How are you?
Great, great.
- [De Luca] How is your family?
- [man] Everything's fine.
The kids are at school.
It's the same old, but it's fine.
Want some coffee?
Yes, yes, I'll have some, I'll have some.
I'll have some coffee.
FORMER PRESS OFFICER - BORGETTO
[Panettino] I was the spokesperson
for De Luca's administration.
I have a real friendship with Gioacchino.
We created a project together
to create positive things for the town.
GIUSEPPE PANETTINO
IS A PROSECUTION WITNESS
IN PINO MANIACI'S TRIAL
I feel really disappointed
about all the negative things
we experienced.
With the administration,
Gioacchino was invited
by the Borgetto expatriates in America.
He agreed to take
the Holy Madonna del Romitello to them.
Pino Maniaci didn't hesitate
to ruin the event,
to discredit the administration,
the Americans,
the people from Borgetto in general.
This made me really angry.
They did everything they could
to make it look like some Mafia thing.
[ominous music playing]
Obviously, the Mayor wanted
to defend himself against the claims
made about the meetings in America.
AUGUST 2014
We called them
"close encounters of the third kind."
This is how he responded.
[Pino] Was New York clean?
To tell you the truth,
New York is like
any other city in the world.
- [Pino] Was it clean?
- No.
- [Pino] It was dirty.
- But there are problems in every city.
We saw a lot of garbage there.
I At first, I didn't get it.
I thought "garbage" meant garbage,
but he was actually referring
to the Mafia.
[Pino] I was talking about
American garbage
in terms of your meetings.
You were referring to other things.
I I I didn't get it.
None of the people
you are alluding to were there.
[Panettino] Pino Maniaci let me respond
about the events in America
and give my opinion.
But with his his, let's say,
usual way of doing things,
when he eh did that report,
he manipulated my my my interview,
my response, everything,
so nothing I said made sense.
[ominous music playing]
APRIL 2018
GIOACCHINO DE LUCA
AND THE BORGETTO COUNCIL
SUE MANIACI FOR DEFAMATION
MANIACI TRIAL
ACCUSATION OF DEFAMATION
WITNESS: DE LUCA
Mr. De Luca, can you summarize
the terms of your complaint
against Giuseppe Maniaci's TV report?
When I returned from America,
Mr. Maniaci did a report
saying that we didn't go there
to represent the Borgetto Council
but to meet some mafiosos
originally from Borgetto.
He tarnished all of us
with this absurd, ridiculous slander,
which is just a a a problem in his head.
He made it up.
[Parrino] So, Mr. De Luca.
I I'd like to show
the witness some photos.
I'm showing you the first page
of the file called
"Video recordings, USA visit."
I want to know
if you recognize the person on the right
wearing dark glasses,
and a sort of shirt, and necklace.
Do you know them?
No.
Did you look properly?
- [Parrino] And answer into the microphone.
- No. I said "no."
- [Parrino] You don't know them?
- No.
The person I showed you
is one Francesco Rappa,
known as "One-handed Frank."
He's a known member
of the Cosa Nostra Mafia organization.
Does the name mean anything to you?
If you watch Pino Maniaci's broadcast,
if the prosecutor doesn't have a copy,
I do
- Excuse me.
- [De Luca] He talks about
Mr. De Luca, please. Answer my question.
- [De Luca] I am answering.
- I didn't ask you about
- I'm answering.
- [Parrino] Forget Pino Maniaci.
You need to give me time to answer.
There were so many people there,
and I don't doubt it
because the photos prove he was there.
I didn't see him or know him.
I don't know who you're talking about.
But if you saw him,
would you recognize him?
Absolutely not
because to be honest
When did this man go to America?
No, you don't ask the questions.
Answer the questions!
I don't know him! I don't!
- I don't know him!
- I object. Don't raise your voice.
It's a simple clarification request.
[Parrino] Your Honor.
I can do what I want in cross-examination.
- No, you can't!
- She objects, and you decide!
I said, "If you saw him,
would you recognize him?"
[De Luca] I said no, I don't
I said it. I don't know him.
- [Parrino] Okay.
- [De Luca] I don't know him.
I deny it categorically. I don't know him!
[Pino] Today we've won a battle
but not the war
because there are still things
to be done to win the war.
Despite everything,
I still believe in justice.
We'll see.
[church bells ringing]
[birds chirping]
MAY 2017
[news jingle playing]
TELEJATO NEWS
[newscaster] Borgetto Council
is disbanded due to Mafia infiltration.
Very serious forms of interference
of organized crime have emerged.
Welcome to today's Telejato News.
Let me say that we are not happy
to hear that the Borgetto Council
has been disbanded
due to serious Mafia infiltrations.
This proves
that everything we've been saying
is in fact true.
FOLLOWING AN INVESTIGATION
BY THE CARABINIERI INTO MAFIA INFILTRATION
IN BORGETTO'S COUNCIL
DE LUCA WAS REMOVED
FROM HIS POST AS MAYOR IN 2017
Before our editorial,
which will tell you the whole story,
we want to start with some reports
that we have done over time.
[reporter] The investigations have left
no doubt that the Mafia
played a crucial role
in favoring the election of some figures
in the Council belonging
to Mayor De Luca's Party.
What will the ex-Mayor do now?
- [birds singing]
- [cello music playing]
I'm proud that I was Mayor of Borgetto.
I did it with all my heart.
I was elected democratically.
I tried to do
positive things for this town.
[indistinct chatter from restaurant]
He spread false information,
and he still gets to carry on,
but I can't anymore.
I was chucked out.
I was suspended.
It was a huge injustice.
He continues to say that I was disbanded
for Mafia infiltration.
No. It was for being suspected
of Mafia infiltration,
which is a different thing.
Accusations that I met
with Mafia members in New York.
All of this is unfounded.
There's no proof, and the investigations
have found absolutely nothing.
My case has been archived,
and he carries on
spreading false information.
[processional music playing]
[church bells ringing]
[Parrino] In Pino Maniaci's trial,
the most serious accusation is extortion.
The video made by the Carabinieri
was considered by the prosecutor
as one of the main pillars
supporting the extortion charge.
We know that Pino is innocent.
We just have to find a way to show
that the video is unreliable.
[men talking on the video]
[suspenseful music playing]
Imagine paying extortion money so readily,
with the person being extorted
right in front of a camera,
counting the money very clearly
and speaking out loud.
It was all too perfect.
And when it's all too perfect,
it means something's not right.
De Luca knew that that room was bugged.
He knew he was being watched.
It was a setup,
it was a trap for Maniaci.
[dramatic music playing]