The court files also refer to the Alvaro mafia clan operating in both Calabria and Australia. For decades, Australian authorities have investigated the activities of the Alvaro mafia clan in Adelaide, where it is headquartered, and in Sydney, Melbourne and the NSW town of Griffith. The allegations about Mr Luppino and Mr Madafferi are untested and vehemently denied by both men. Mr Luppino’s son, Dom, described them as baseless. There is no suggestion that Mr Madafferi or Mr Luppino are involved in criminal activity, only that they have been named in the Italian anti-mafia directorate’s brief of evidence. The court files detail activities that could have been plucked from the script of the mafia epic, The Godfather, describing a world of ancient ritual, family power struggles and networks stretching across the international criminal underworld and Italian politics. Mr Luppino is alleged in court filings to be one of the most senior and wealthy figures in the Australian 'Ndrangheta. The Italian authorities allege that he had significant dealings with an elderly Calabrian mafia chief, Cosimo Cannizzaro, who travelled to Melbourne to stay with Mr Luppino. Phone taps of Mr Cannizzaro, who was placed under house arrest in Italy on Wednesday, capture him claiming in November 2018 that Mr Luppino had repeatedly asked him to become part of his booming business ventures in Australia and had also hosted him in Melbourne while knowing of his “prominence in the 'Ndrangheta”.

Mr Cannizzaro is also recorded excitedly describing a scene at Mr Luppino’s home in which he observed “seven people who were counting money.” While the Italian authorities imbue the conversation with a sinister importance – describing it as having “extreme significance” – the transcript of the conversation leaves open the possibility that the cash being counted was funds derived from Mr Luppino’s thriving produce business. Diego Luppino in 1962 in front of the ship on which he came from Italy. Credit:Eddie Jim Mr Luppino’s son, Dom, said his father was merely a longstanding friend of Mr Cannizzaro and that any cash counted at his Melbourne home would have been legitimately earned by selling produce. “They are just friends. They were friends as young boys. He loves my father,” Dom Luppino said. “These allegations have been made without any proof. My father has never done anything dishonest. He has busted his arse all his life. He is such a hard worker.” In the Italian court filings Mr Cannizzaro is also recorded describing how Mr Luppino, along with other alleged Australian mafia bosses, had sought his help in resolving a “sentimental type scandal” or breach of honour involving a relationship between an Australian mafia figure and a woman. That mafia figure was stripped of his standing and had to pay a “charge” or “dowry”, according to the phone taps.

Diego Luppino started a produce stall at the Dandenong market in the 1960s and, due to his longevity and success, has become an iconic figure in the fruit and vegetable sector. In 2012, ALP politician Ben Carroll, who is now Victoria’s minister for crime prevention, described his “honour and privilege of presenting Diego Luppino” with honorary life membership of a local Italian community association which backed Mr Carroll after he was elected in 2012. “Diego is someone I know I can call upon for advice,” Mr Carroll said. Alleged Melbourne mafia boss Tony Madafferi. Credit:Jason South The Italian phone taps also record Mr Cannizzaro describing another fruiterer Tony Madafferi as the “il capo bastone” or "chief stick" – one of the leaders of the Australian arm of the 'Ndrangheta. It is not the first time Mr Madafferi has been named in court as a mafia don. In the early 1990s, Madafferi was twice named as a suspected hitman (allegations he denied and which were never corroborated) at the inquests into the murders of two greengrocers. In 2015, Mr Madafferi failed in his attempt to get The Age to reveal the names of confidential sources who informed the paper’s reporting about his donations and networking across the state and federal political spectrum.

Loading Asked to comment on the court filing in Italy this week, Mr Madafferi said: “What is there to comment about? Go and find a job. Where does this bullshit come from? It has nothing to do with me.” Corporate records show that Mr Luppino, Mr Madafferi and the now dead Rosario Gangemi – previously named by Australian police as a mafia godfather – were directors and owners of an Australian business between 1988 and 2000. Mr Madafferi’s lobbying of politicians to stop his brother, drug trafficker Francesco Madafferi, from being deported from Australia has been the subject of intense media attention over the past decade. In 1992, when homicide detectives quizzed Mr Madafferi about what he thought of Liborio Benvenuto, another alleged Australian mafia boss, he replied: "A very good man. Very honest and he was respected everywhere."

Mr Madafferi also impressed upon the interviewing detectives that he, too, was a man of influence. "I am a man who is very respected," he said.