The Real Mafia: Politicians, Secret Dossiers, and the Silence of the Media
Carmine Gallo, former “super-cop” aged 66, passed away on March 9, 2025, in his home in Garbagnate Milanese, where he had been under house arrest since October 2024. According to initial reports, the cause of death was a sudden heart attack, but an autopsy has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause.
Gallo was involved in the “Equalize” investigation concerning alleged illegal dossier activities. As the CEO of the investigative firm “Equalize,” founded alongside Enrico Pazzali, the self-suspended president of Fondazione Fiera Milano, Gallo was accused of criminal conspiracy aimed at unauthorized access to databases and other offenses.
The investigation has revealed compromising links between Pazzali and prominent figures in Italian politics. Names involved include Attilio Fontana, Letizia Moratti, Ignazio La Russa, and Daniela Santanchè, high-profile individuals who allegedly benefited from the illicit dossier services. Investigators discovered thousands of emails and chats containing confidential information about them, painting a disturbing picture of collusion and unlawful control of information.
Enrico Pazzali, former president of Fondazione Fiera Milano, suspended himself from office on October 29, 2024, to defend himself against charges brought by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office, which implicates him in an investigation into alleged illegal dossier activities and unauthorized access to restricted databases.
The investigation concerns the activities of the investigative firm Equalize, co-founded by Pazzali in 2018, which allegedly produced about 800,000 files containing confidential information on politicians, entrepreneurs, VIPs, and journalists, obtained through unauthorized access to institutional databases.
Among those implicated in the scandal are prominent figures such as Ignazio La Russa, President of the Senate, and his son Geronimo La Russa. According to statements from Carmine Gallo, Pazzali requested confidential information about them on behalf of a “person I cannot say no to.” Gallo claimed he refused to carry out these accesses.
This episode suggests the existence of a system in which influential individuals collect compromising data on other political figures, using it as leverage or blackmail to maintain power dynamics based on mutual knowledge of secrets and illegal activities.
Additionally, the investigation has brought to light previous scandals linked to Fondazione Fiera Milano, including the 2016 mafia-controlled administration of its subsidiary Nolostand and an €8 million contract for logistics services in Lainate, which in 2022 led to the arrest of Massimo Hallecker, former head of Fiera’s procurement department.
The most concerning issue is the media’s involvement. Why is such a major scandal relegated to a mere news flash, while in Sicily, anyone arrested—regardless of innocence—is immediately labeled as a mafioso? Why don’t national TV networks dedicate days of coverage, as they do with organized crime cases from Sicily, even when they are of minor importance? The answer is simple: the real mafia isn’t in the streets of Sicily but in the halls of power in Rome and Milan. There, the real strings of illegality are pulled, protected by a mercenary media system that distorts the truth and shields those who truly hold power.
While in Sicily the judicial system harshly prosecutes even the smallest suspect, the true thieves of the nation—those who embezzle billions without ever serving a day in prison—remain unpunished and are even promoted to prestigious positions. The people are forced to always choose the “lesser evil,” never having the option to elect truly honest politicians. This system can only be dismantled through awareness and democratic protest.
A possible tool for resistance is Law 1957, Law 104.5, which allows voters to officially register their dissenting vote, a weapon that could overturn this corrupt system without being manipulated electorally. The Italian people, especially Sicilians, must wake up and understand who the real mafiosi are: not the small-time criminals in the neighborhoods, but those who sit on corporate boards and in ministries—those who drain the South of its resources and force young people to flee abroad for a better future.
We shout and will continue to shout: “INDEPENDENT SICILY, FREE FROM THIS POLITICAL MAFIA THAT HAS BROUGHT ONLY CRIMES AND SUFFERING TO THE SICILIAN PEOPLE!”