THE MAFIA IN AUSTRALIA: A SPECIAL TWO PART INVESTIGATION ON FOUR CORNERS

Part One: Drugs, Murder and Politics

Monday 29 June 2015

It's one of the most secretive and powerful organised crime syndicates in the world, run by violent, ruthless criminals who make a fortune out of the drug trade.

It's the Italian mafia. And it's operating right here in Australia, right now.

In this joint Four Corners/Fairfax Media investigation, more than a year in the making, we reveal how the mafia continues to flourish in Australia despite major police operations.

"I'm going to pull his f-ckin' head off. I'm going to eat him alive. Tell him that he can go get his f-ckin' coffin." Telephone intercept of an Australian mafia boss

Reporter Nick McKenzie travelled to Italy to uncover the family and business connections between the Italian mafia and their Australian associates. A top anti-mafia prosecutor says they are "recreating a Little Italy in Australia".

Here in Australia our investigations reveal how the mafia has infiltrated Australian politics at the highest levels by cultivating people in positions of power.

"This is a case study of what's wrong with the system." Anti-corruption fighter

THE MAFIA IN AUSTRALIA: DRUGS, MURDER AND POLITICS, reported by Nick McKenzie and presented by Kerry O'Brien, goes to air on Monday 29th of June at 8.30pm. It is replayed on Tuesday 30th at 10.00am and Wednesday 1st July at midnight. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00pm, ABC iview and at abc.net.au/4corners.

Transcript

Monday 29 June 2015

The Mafia in Australia Part 1: Drugs, Murder and Politics

KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: Tonight on Four Corners: drugs, murder and political influence, the Italian mafia alive and flourishing in Australia.

ANNA SERGI, DR., UNI. OF WEST LONDON: The 'Ndrangheta has built its reputation on violence in order to keep the intimidation and to keep the fear and to keep the, the social control.

NICK MCKENZIE, REPORTER (to Frank Costa): How corrupt was the system?

FRANK COSTA, CHAIRMAN, COSTA GROUP: It was rotten to the core.

CLIVE SMALL, FMR ASST. COMMISSIONER, NSW POLICE: I can't believe our politicians are so dopey. I find that sort of extremely difficulty to understand: how they could be so nae.

KERRY O'BRIEN: The Italian mafia has a long and infamous history in Australia. Remember the Griffith marijuana network, the drug lord Robert Trimbole, the murder of anti-drugs campaigner Donald McKay.

That may all seem like ancient history but what we will show you tonight and again next week is that in the decades since then, the so-called "honoured society", 'Ndrangheta, headquartered in Calabria in southern Italy, has built a massive operation in Australia, bringing in huge quantities of drugs and infiltrating mainstream Australian politics.

Tonight's investigation will take you inside long-running police surveillance operations to dramatically uncover just how brutal, ruthless and deeply imbedded the "honoured society" of 'Ndrangheta here really is.

We were informed on Thursday that lawyers for one of the principal people featured in tonight's story, Melbourne businessman Tony Madafferi, would be seeking a court order to stop the program going to air.

That didn't eventuate.

Reporter Nick McKenzie travelled to Calabria for this joint Four Corners/Fairfax Media expos

NICK MCKENZIE, REPORTER: July 2008. In the heart of Melbourne a group of men embark on a deadly mission: to kill a fellow criminal.

They work for one of the most secretive and powerful mafia organisations in the world, unaware that police are watching their every move.

MATT WARREN, DET. SUPT., AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE: We became aware that they were in possession of, ah, of, handguns; of firearms, ah, which gave us rise for concern. Ah, and it became very clear to us that they were, ah, allegedly embarking on, ah, on a mission to go and, and do someone some significant harm.

They were going to kill someone: that was, that's certainly, ah, the allegation.

NICK MCKENZIE: Among the conspirators was Frank Madafferi, a suburban greengrocer with a reputation as a violent underworld figure.

Police phone taps recorded him threatening another criminal over a drug deal.

FRANK MADAFFERI (phone conversation; translation): I'm going to pull his f****n' head off. I'm going to eat him alive. Tell him that he can go get his f****n' coffin, get it f****n' ready because I'm going to go there with a f****n' 4WD and f****n' get him and f****n' take it away.

MATT WARREN: Well, certainly he was regarded with, with a degree of trepidation, with fear, um, with respect. Um, he was, ah... His reputation for violence obviously had been established,

NICK MCKENZIE: Detective Superintendent Matt Warren and his Federal Police team had accidentally stumbled across the murder plot as part of a top-secret organised crime investigation.

They faced a terrible dilemma as they watched events unfold. The police would have to intervene to prevent any killing, but that would force them out of the shadows, blowing many months of painstaking surveillance work.

MATT WARREN: Myself and the team had been living and breathing this, ah, this investigation for months. Um, and so for, ah, for that to, to come unstuck at that point, um, would've been devastating: really, almost heartbreaking, ah, for the team and I, really.

(Footage from AFP surveillance video)

NICK MCKENZIE: The would-be hit men never completed their journey.

AFP SURVEILLANCE TEAM MEMBER: Yeah, I'm getting all this on video.

Constantly and it looks like they've attached the, um, jumper leads to both vehicles.

NICK MCKENZIE: Their car broke down and they re-grouped, still unaware that Federal Police were shadowing them.

The surveillance was part of much bigger operation, which would ultimately expose the Calabrian mafia's powerful Australian network.

It began a year earlier, when police made a massive discovery on Melbourne's docks.

(To Matt Warren): Did you have any idea how big the importation would be?

MATT WARREN: Not at all. Um, in fact, um, it was a, a surprise to everyone as we unpacked the container: just the volume of, ah, of drugs we were looking at.

NICK MCKENZIE: Police had uncovered the world's biggest ecstasy shipment: more than four tonnes of the drug hidden in a container of canned tomatoes that arrived from Italy in June 2007.

ANDREA PAVLEKA, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, COMMONWEALTH DPP: The quantities of drugs were enormous. Ah, the amounts of money that were, ah, at stake were enormous. Ah, it, it painted a picture of, um, a well organised group, ah, with international connections.

MATT WARREN: None of us expected that we'd be on for the next, um, you know, 13 or 14 months of, of hard slog, ah, investigating, you know, an, an enormous organised crime enterprise.

(Footage of Matt Warren showing Nick McKenzie a corkboard of photographs of suspects)

MATT WARREN: Then, ah, you start to see the whole thing coming together...

NICK MCKENZIE: Police focussed their surveillance on the man they suspected had brokered the massive drug shipment: Pasquale 'Pat' Barbaro.

(Footage from AFP surveillance video)

POLICE SURVEILLANCE TEAM MEMBER: About to lose 'em, Ernie.

NICK MCKENZIE: Police suspected Barbaro was a member of a feared and highly secretive international mafia syndicate, known as the 'Ndrangheta or "honoured society."

POLICE SURVEILLANCE TEAM MEMBER: Now we've got Pat out, wearing the green T-shirt.

NICK MCKENZIE: For months, police secretly filmed Pat Barbaro meeting associates in restaurants, parks and fruit shops in Melbourne - and even at a farm near his home town of Griffith in western New South Wales.

MATT WARREN: Certainly what we saw with Pat Barbaro was that he was the point man, ah, for the Australian end. He was the one, ah, who was actively involved in talking to the syndicates overseas, in meeting with them.

NICK MCKENZIE: Of all his criminal associates, it soon became clear that Pat Barbaro treated suburban greengrocer Frank Madafferi with an unusual degree of respect.

One tapped telephone conversation revealed that Frank Madafferi saw himself as the group's Melbourne boss.

FRANK MADAFFERI (phone conversation; translation): Don't f**k around too much with me, understand? You think f****n' Melbourne is f****n' yours? Is not f****n' yours, understand? Ah? I'm f****n' responsible for f****n' Melbourne. Melbourne is mine and doesn't belong to Pasquale.

MATT WARREN: I think it shows that, that in his mind, um, he was the number one 'Ndrangheta figure in Melbourne; that, that, ah, it was his patch, it was his turf, and that, um, whilst Barbaro was able to operate there, ah, in relation to what he was doing, it had to be with his permission, ah, and with his, ah, his knowledge. So I think unquestionably he viewed Melbourne as his patch.

NICK MCKENZIE: As the surveillance continued, other men came into view.

This is Frank Madafferi's elder brother, Tony. Tony Madafferi is a multi-millionaire businessman who part owns a national chain of pizza restaurants, as well as several fruit and vegetable shops around Melbourne.

(To Matt Warren) Is it fair to say that Tony Madafferi was deeply connected to these organised crime figures?

MATT WARREN: Well, certainly he's a very strong associate, absolutely.

NICK MCKENZIE: On a weekend in March 2008, police were watching when Tony Madafferi met Pat Barbaro and two other drug traffickers in Melbourne's Flagstaff Gardens.

It's never been established that Tony Madafferi is involved in drug trafficking, but his meetings with drug importers aroused police suspicion.

(To Matt Warren) Tony Madafferi appears throughout the court allegations as somebody the group consistently sought to meet with in private, in Crown Casino or in the villa of the Flagstaff Gardens. What was his role throughout the operation:

MATT WARREN: We would say that, that he was an interested party.

NICK MCKENZIE: Many of the men being tailed by the Federal Police had begun their careers here: at Melbourne's Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market. Police discovered some of their targets would meet at the market to have private discussions.

MATT WARREN: They're able to conduct meetings, ah, with very little chance of the police being able to intercept those, ah, conversations in that very busy market environment. So it allows them, ah, a) access to other members of the group whereby, um, it's, it's mixed in with normal, normal activity.

I mean, these people, ah, are continuing to run successful farming operations so, um, their attendance at the market may not in fact be on, ah, any particular occasional criminal; on other occasions it will be.

NICK MCKENZIE: For decades, the 'Ndrangheta controlled the market through a cartel that monopolised the sale of produce through bribery and extortion.

(Excerpt from ABC News bulletin, Jan. 1964)

REPORTER (ABC TV News, 1964): Neighbours I have spoken to today tell me that they heard two shots at about 2:30 in the morning.

NICK MCKENZIE (voiceover): The 'Ndrangheta's secretive market cartel only became public when power struggles within their ranks sparked outbreaks of murder and violence.

REPORTER (ABC TV News, May 1983): The explosion occurred just after 6 o'clock this morning, during a busy trading time at the Wholesale Market...

NICK MCKENZIE (voiceover): In 1983, the car of the undisputed Melbourne godfather, Liborio Benvenuto, was bombed in the market car park.

REPORTER (ABC TV News, May 1983): ...when the explosion occurred.

LIBORIO BENVENUTO (ABC TV News, May 1983): Might be the petrol tank.

REPORTER: You don't think somebody put a bomb in your car?

LIBORIO BENVENUTO: No. No. Because I never got no enemy.

REPORTER: You've never been involved in any trouble here at the markets?

LIBORIO BENVENUTO: No, never in my life. Never.

NICK MCKENZIE: A top-secret National Crime Authority report obtained by Four Corners found that the violence was "connected with the alleged secret commission and extortion schemes which were operating at the markets".

(To Frank Costa) This group was the so-called "honoured society"?

FRANK COSTA, CHAIRMAN, COSTA GROUP: Well, that's what they might have called them. I never used that expression and we didn't, our company never used that expression. We just used the expression: they're bunch of ruthless merchants.

NICK MCKENZIE: How corrupt was the system?

FRANK COSTA: It was rotten to the core.

NICK MCKENZIE: Fruit and vegetable wholesale king Frank Costa saw the cartel in action.

FRANK COSTA: What was happening was that they had the buyers of certain products - major lines, I think, by then - in their pocket. And those buyers would give them the order regardless and it would get through quality control regardless and they would receive weekly - I think it was mostly weekly, it might have been monthly in some cases, but mostly weekly - a brown paper bag.

So he might just get 100 boxes of something at whatever and then he'd give him 50 cents a box, 50 bucks at the end of the week. That would grow to $1,000, grow to $2,000. And the guy's got hooked, absolutely hooked. And once you're hooked you're gone and you sell your soul to the devil - well, you become a devil.

NICK MCKENZIE: In the late 1980s, Frank Costa agreed to a request by the supermarket chains to confront these schemes and end the market cartel.

Before long, he received a chilling message from a Calabrian wholesaler.

FRANK COSTA: "I've been sent to speak to you from so and so who came and approached me this morning at the market with two offers. Your choice, Frank," he said. Um, "You can have $1 million cash now - and it will be all cash and you can get that same repeat every 12 months if you let the buying go back to its original, ah, process, right? And if you don't want, that you can have the other offer which is a bullet for you:" That was me.

NICK MCKENZIE: Frank Costa stood his ground with an audacious bluff.

FRANK COSTA: And I said, "Really?" I said, "That's very nice of him." I said, "You go back and tell that bastard tomorrow - and don't soften at all - that if one hair of the head of any our family is touched in any way, double that will happen to his family immediately."

NICK MCKENZIE: Frank Costa remembers Tony Madafferi as a key market figure but says Madafferi never threatened him.

But later, as a new wave of violence erupted at the markets, Tony Madafferi would face serious accusations at two separate inquests.

REPORTER (ABC News, June 1993): Of the many startling allegations made during the 10-day inquiry, probably the most shocking was that Tony Madafferi, a Glen Waverly greengrocer, was the honoured society's executioner.

NICK MCKENZIE: In 1991 greengrocer Tony Peluso was killed outside his home in Glen Waverley after a price war with rival grocers.

A year later another fruiterer, Alfonse Muratore, was also shot dead.

At the coronial inquests into these unsolved murders, Tony Madafferi strongly denied claims by witnesses that he was a mafia enforcer.

REPORTER (ABC TV News, April 1995): Detective Sergeant Chris Enright told the inquest police had evidence Mr Peluso was threatened by rival businessman Tony Madafferi a week before the shooting. The threat included a warning that if Peluso wasn't careful, he would be killed. His son, Gaetano Peluso, heard Madafferi say, "Be careful. I'll get you. If you don't, I will kill you."

NICK MCKENZIE: Murder victim Alfonse Muratore's girlfriend told the coroner that Muratore was convinced Tony Madafferi had killed Peluso. She also said Muratore told her Tony Madafferi was a man to be greatly feared.

KAREN MANSFIELD (ABC TV News, June 1993): I know that, in my heart, Fonse is on the stand with me all the time. He's there with me, all the time. And I'm speaking for him and, ah, I'm gonna stop speaking for him until the day I die, if it needs to be. I want the truth known. I, I really want the truth known.

NICK MCKENZIE: No adverse coronial finding was made against Tony Madafferi and he was never charged with any crime.

He denied any wrongdoing, telling police he was simply "a man who is very respected at the market."

Tony Madafferi's lawyer dismissed the claims against him as baseless hearsay.

LAWYER (archive): He is devastated. He's, ah, ah, totally shocked by the allegations that were made. His family has suffered enormously. His business has suffered and, ah, he is very concerned to attempt to clear his name.

NICK MCKENZIE: In 1995, the National Crime Authority completed the biggest mafia inquiry in decades, codenamed Cerberus.

Four Corners has obtained the confidential Cerberus report, which was never publicly released.

CERBERUS REPORT EXTRACT (voiceover): Antonio Madafferi has been named by three sources as being a member of the honoured society. Membership of a secret society must be considered as highly probable."

NICK MCKENZIE: The origins of this secret society lie on the other side of the world.

Calabria, at the southern tip of the Italian mainland, is the birthplace and traditional stronghold of one of the world's most feared mafia organisations, the 'nrandgheta or "honoured society".

Behind the picture postcard scenery is a dark history of violence, fear and secrecy.

ANNA SERGI, DR., UNI. OF WEST LONDON: The 'Ndrangheta has built its reputation on violence, especially in the 70s, 80s and 90s, so right at the beginning of its empire of drugs, in order to keep the intimidation and to keep the fear and to keep the, the social control.

NICK MCKENZIE: Fighting the mafia here is a risky business.

In order to meet one of the top anti-mafia prosecutors, we are escorted by his armed security detail who must protect him from assassination around the clock.

Roberto Di Palma says the Calabrian mafia has built a powerful base in Australia.

(Nick McKenzie meets Roberto Di Palma, shaking hands)

ROBERTO DI PALMA, ANTI-MAFIA PROSECUTOR: Nice to meet you and you're welcome.

NICK MCKENZIE: Thank you.

ROBERTO DI PALMA (translation): The Calabrian 'Ndrangheta's ties with Australia are strong, but that shouldn't shock us. Because by now we find the 'Ndrangheta occupying a global dimension. The influx of Italian migrants in Australia has been very historically significant. And what better situation for recreating a Little Italy in Australia with the same dynamics, both virtuous and depraved?

NICK MCKENZIE: The Calabrians entrusted the world's biggest shipment of ecstasy to the Australians: 15 million pills. What does that say about the essence of the relationship?

ROBERTO DI PALMA (translation): The discovery of such a large and important shipment of ecstasy, one that the Calabrians had entrusted to the Australians, proves that a criminal organisation exists in Australia: a professional organization that works adeptly in the drug trade.

NICK MCKENZIE: At Calabria's container port, Italian police regularly seize massive hauls of cocaine, bound for markets in Europe and Australia. But it's just a fraction of the 'Ndrangheta's lucrative global trade.

ROBERTO DI PALMA (translation): Today we can say with certainty that the 'Ndrangheta is the most powerful force in the world when it comes to international drug trafficking, namely cocaine.

NICK MCKENZIE: The birthplace of the Calabrian mafia is in the foothills of the rugged Aspromonte mountains.

Here, the mafia remains all-powerful.

ANNA SERGI: There is the cult of honour, meaning that if you, if you break the secrecy code, obviously someone has to do something about you. So if you... yeah, you, you should be killed.

NICK MCKENZIE: Calabrian-born mafia expert Dr Anna Sergi is our guide as we travel to the tiny mountain village of Oppido Mamertina. It's a notorious 'Ndrangheta stronghold. It's also the ancestral home and birthplace of Frank and Tony Madafferi, the brothers who would later attract so much police attention in Australia.

(To Anna Sergi) Would Frank Madafferi still have strong connections to the town?

ANNA SERGI: Yeah, that's absolutely expected. That's the one thing that always been clear to the authorities in Italy, in Calabrian reggio: is that for the Australian organisation of Calabrian origin to exist, there has to be an approval from here.

NICK MCKENZIE: You don't have to look far to see evidence of links to Australia.

Tony Madafferi left here as a teenager, but Frank stayed behind to establish his criminal reputation.

ANNA SERGI: Francesco Madafferi started his career - his criminal career - very young from what we see from his record. We see someone involved in violent acts.

NICK MCKENZIE: This is the area where Frank Madafferi was blooded as a young mafia soldier. Aged just 19, he was caught by police acting as a bagman in a violent extortion scheme. The scheme involved blowing up the house of the victim and demanding a huge pay-off. Frank Madafferi was caught when he came to pick up the cash.

The traditional code of silence which protected the mafia for centuries remains entrenched here.

(To Anna Sergi) What happens to informers: those who speak out against the Calabrian mafia here in these villages?

ANNA SERGI: The most common thing that can happen is that someone refuses to pay the protection tax, the racket, extortion tax. They attempt to send a message across that if you mess with them, if you refuse to pay, then they either burn your shop or they, they make life, life unbearable for your relatives. They make impo- make it impossible to find a job for your son or daughter. Some of them even ended up dead.

So these rules still apply but we have less and less, um, visibility of killings, um, because they-they-they don't need that. I mean, they don't need publicity. They don't need - they are strong enough without it. They can... There are various ways of killing someone, I would say.

NICK MCKENZIE (To Pantaleone Sergi): So it's, it's over here where the young girl was taken?

PANTALEONE SERGI, JOURNALIST (translation): This is the house of the Mittica family. It is here that on the 28th November 1986 that Angela Mittica was kidnapped. She was 25 at the time.

NICK MCKENZIE: Pantaleone Sergi is a journalist and former mayor of a nearby town.

He takes us to the site of a notorious crime linked to Frank Madafferi: the kidnapping of a local politician's daughter.

(Footage of newsreader covering Angela Mittica's kidnapping, Italian TV)

NICK MCKENZIE: Angela Mittica's kidnapping became big news in Italy as one of a spate of high-profile mafia crimes.

(Footage of Nick McKenzie in car)

NICK MCKENZIE: We have just been told that Angela Mittica might be willing to talk to us. Now, if she goes on camera, it would be an extraordinarily brave move. Most people here are still terrified about speaking openly about the mafia.

(To Angela Mittica) Did you lose track of time...

NICK MCKENZIE (voiceover): At a discreet location, Angela agrees to tell us her story. it's the first time in 28 years she's spoken publicly about her ordeal.

ANGELA MITTICA (translation): I was afraid, terribly afraid because I had no idea what was happening to me.

So they said, "No, no, don't worry, this is a kidnapping for money. We don't want to hurt you or kill you. This is a kidnapping for extortion, to get money."

NICK MCKENZIE: Angela Mittica would spend almost five months held captive in a cave hidden among the rugged mountains that surround the town.

Her captors wore balaclavas at all times so she would not be able to identify them.

ANGELA MITTICA (translation): The conditions were really bad. I was chained. The chain was attached to my wrist and ankle and tied to several logs. The cave I was in had a very low ceiling. In fact, I couldn't stand up. Inside there was just some kind of foam mattress on top of some firewood. Only when they came by would they unchain me for a little while.

NICK MCKENZIE: As the search for Angela Mittica continued, local police arrested more than a dozen suspects.

One of them was Frank Madafferi.

(To Pantaleone Sergi) Why did police arrest Francesco Madafferi?

PANTALEONE SERGI (translation): Frank Madafferi was arrested in the first phase of the investigation, when there was pressure from police and magistrates, because they wanted answers about this kidnappings.

Frank Madafferi was already known among the police because of his several priors. For this reason, the investigation focussed on this tight-knit group he was a member of.

His role in the group was uncertain. But law enforcement officials believed, and the magistrate confirmed, that he was a part of the gang that kidnapped Angela Mittica.

(Footage of Nick McKenzie and Pantaleone Sergi walking through Calabrian forest clearing)

NICK MCKENZIE: What do you think Francesco Madafferi was willing to...

NICK MCKENZIE (voiceover): Pantaleone Sergi reported on the kidnapping for a major Italian newspaper.

(To Pantaleone Sergi) So is this where Angela Mittica was kept?

The cave she was kept in was back behind here somewhere. They were moving her from one hiding place to another when the Carabinieri caught them.

They exchanged fire. They nearly shot Angela. She said, "No, no, I'm Angela Mittica." So they saved her.

(Footage of newsreader covering Angela Mittica's return, Italian TV)

NICK MCKENZIE: After enduring 130 days in captivity, Angela Mittica was finally reunited with her loved ones.

ANGELA MITTICA (translation): I think that was the most beautiful day of my life. The feeling was indescribable. To know this experience was behind me, to be out of that cave and that ordeal and to get my life back. It might seem silly, but to be able to take a shower and to shampoo my hair. To see my friends, my fiancand my family.

NICK MCKENZIE: Despite his arrest, Italian police were never able to gather enough evidence to charge Frank Madafferi over the kidnapping of Angela Mittica. But they did have the evidence to charge him with a litany of other serious crimes throughout the 1980s.

He was convicted and sentenced to multiple jail terms for extortion, mafia conspiracy and two separate stabbings, as well as drug and gun possession.

ANNA SERGI: He was arrested and sentenced for stabbing. He was also involved in, in a kidnapping case. He was involved in, um... he was suspected of an attempted murder - voluntary attempted murder - and he was, he was sentenced twice for extortion. This tells us, ah, considering the area he is from, that he was trying to make a name for his- for himself. He was trying to show someone that he- he could be trusted to carry out certain work.

NICK MCKENZIE: In 1989 with police again circling him, this time over a prison stabbing and receiving stolen goods, Frank Madafferi fled Calabria.

He arrived in Melbourne, lied about his criminal record, and was given a six-month tourist visa.

MATT WARREN: Well, certainly, um, clearly he served an apprenticeship and a fairly violent one, ah, in Italy, before he came to Australia. Um, there were outstanding warrants for his arrest, ah, in Italy when he arrived in Australia, which he didn't declare.

NICK MCKENZIE: In Melbourne, Frank Madafferi began working in the fruit and vegetable trade, where his brother Tony was already well established.

The violence at the wholesale markets was continuing.

Before long, both Frank and Tony Madafferi were at the centre of criminal investigations, with police making explosive allegations in a statement later aired in court and fiercely denied by the pair.

COURT STATEMENT (voiceover): Antonio Madafferi has involvement in a substantial number of crimes, including murder, gunshot wounding and arson.

Frank Madafferi, if allowed to remain in Australia, will continue to carry out acts of violence on behalf of a criminal syndicate.

NICK MCKENZIE: In 1996, Australian authorities moved to have Frank Madafferi deported after finally discovering he was an illegal migrant with a lengthy record of violent crime back in Italy.

Philip Ruddock was immigration minister at the time.

PHILIP RUDDOCK, IMMIGRATION MINISTER 1996-2003: I do have a view that in relation to serious criminal records, um, that people may have, that they should be taken into account, um, as to whether or not they're able to settle in Australia. And, um, my first, um, presumption is: um, we don't take other people's criminals.

NICK MCKENZIE: In 2000, Ruddock ruled that Frank Madafferi should be deported back to Italy.

PHILIP RUDDOCK: If you have a person who comes and, ah, I think in this matter, um, marries an Australia and then seeks to stay, um, and there is a serious criminal record, um, in my view, um, that should be taken into account. And, ah, the view that I formed, ah, was that, ah, um, on the basis of the criminal record, um, he should be deported.

NICK MCKENZIE: Desperate to keep Frank Madafferi in Australia, his family headed to court. During one hearing, a judge was told that Australian police suspected Frank and his brother Tony were part of a crime family allegedly involved in murder, arson and extortion.

The brothers denied this and one judge said the police view could not be relied on as it was based on unnamed informers. But ultimately the deportation order was upheld. And so the Madafferis embarked on plan B.

By this time Tony Madafferi was a wealthy businessman, cultivating political links. Among the Madafferi family supporters were several major political donors, such as Sydney furniture king Nick Scali.

Liberal Party sources have confirmed that, in October 2001, Scali organised a meeting between Tony Madafferi and a NSW Liberal Party figure associated with a fundraising vehicle called the Millennium Forum.

GEOFFREY WATSON SC, COUNSEL ASSISTING, NSW ICAC: When you look at the Millennium Forum website or the way in which it organises functions, the idea is that you would be a donor of a particular value and that would get you so much access, whether at dinners or fundraising events of different kinds. It's access in return for a donation.

NICK MCKENZIE: It's all about getting the ear of a politician?

GEOFFREY WATSON: Exactly: and nothing else.

GEOFFREY WATSON (ICAC): Part of the purpose of the public inquiry will be attem- to attempt to determine whether or not that innocent explanation should be accepted.

NICK MCKENZIE: As the counsel assisting the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, Geoffrey Watson recently investigated the Millennium Forum.

GEOFFREY WATSON: On how many occasions would you see it that a donation was quickly followed by a request to meet a politician? Then ask yourself: why is somebody requesting a meeting with a politician? It's not just to get to know them. It's to influence them as to their decision making. Of course there's a connection.

NICK MCKENZIE: The Liberal Party figure involved in the Millennium Forum arranged a meeting with immigration minister Philip Ruddock.

Nick Scali arrived at Ruddock's office, accompanied by the Madafferi family's lawyer who had flown up from Melbourne.

(To Philip Ruddock) Were you surprised that a legal representative of the Madafferi family was sitting in your office?

PHILIP RUDDOCK: Well, look, I wasn't aware of it. Um, I'd agreed to see a community representative who wanted to put a view.

NICK MCKENZIE: Liberal Party sources have told Four Corners Philip Ruddock was furious when he realised he was hosting Frank and Tony Madafferi's legal adviser.

The meeting was cut short as Ruddock rejected the pleas made on Frank Madafferi's behalf.

PHILIP RUDDOCK: Some people wanted to put another view. I was prepared to hear it but given what I've said to you, ah, criminal records are serious issues, um, and, ah, I came to a view in exercising my discretion, ah, that I would not, ah, waive, ah, the, ah, ah, the deportation: um, that it should proceed.

GEOFFREY WATSON: Oh, I'll say this about Phillip Ruddock: you may not agree with his politics but he's a man of integrity. And he acted there as I thought he would and he should. But the fact is that his actions showed that he recognised immediately that there was something wrong with receiving these solicitations from the Madafferis.

(Footage of Amanda Vanstone sworn in by Governor-General Peter Hollingworth)

AMANDA VANSTONE, IMMIGRATION MINISTER 2003-7: I, Amanda Eloise Vanstone, do swear that I will well and truly serve the people of Australia in the office of Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.

NICK MCKENZIE: In late 2003, Amanda Vanstone replaced Phillip Ruddock as immigration minister.

Tony Madafferi now called on the help of another prominent businessman and political donor to lobby the new minister to have Frank Madafferi's impending deportation overturned.

The donor they turned to was Pasquale "Pat" Sergi. Pat Sergi is a property developer with a reputation for charity work.

In 1979 the Woodward royal commission concluded he had been buying and selling real estate using money provided by mafia drug traffickers.

CLIVE SMALL, FMR ASST. COMMISSIONER, NSW POLICE: Woodward found that it was essentially a money laundering operation. It was quite substantial and certainly by today's standards, we're talking millions and millions of dollars.

NICK MCKENZIE: What does that say about Pat Sergi's closeness to the mafia?

CLIVE SMALL: Well, they wouldn't have been giving Pat Sergi cash and allowing him to invest it unless he was an extremely trusted person.

NICK MCKENZIE: The Madafferi brothers and their supporters launched a full-blown political lobbying campaign.

Pat Sergi approached NSW Liberal senator Marise Payne. Other donors lobbied Victorian Liberal MP Russell Broadbent, as well as his colleague, Bruce Billson.

In the lead-up to the 2004 election, Tony Madafferi organised a political fundraiser in Melbourne attended by all three Liberal parliamentarians. Each of them had previously contacted immigration minister Amanda Vanstone about the impending deportation.

The guest speaker at the fundraiser was Amanda Vanstone.

On the evening, Tony Madafferi personally donated $15,000 to the Liberal Party's Millennium Forum.

GEOFFREY WATSON: This is a case study of what's wrong with the system. Well, it's seriously wrong. Ah, the point is that, for no better reason, for no better reason than the making of donations to a political party, specific representations were able to be put to amongst the most powerful politicians in the land - access which you and I couldn't get, except if we made substantial donations ourselves.

By 2004 Tony Madafferi was a regular at Liberal Party fundraisers, including this function with then Victorian Opposition leader and now Melbourne Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle.

NICK MCKENZIE: Searching through hundreds of photos from fundraising events, Four Corners discovered Tony Madafferi even meeting then prime minister John Howard.

In November 2005, after years spent lobbying, Frank Madafferi finally got the break he was looking for: Amanda Vanstone intervened in the case and overturned the deportation order.

Amanda Vanstone has not responded to repeated attempts to contact her and all the MPs involved in the lobbying declined to be interviewed.

But they have maintained their intervention in the case was based on humanitarian concerns about the impact of the deportation on Madafferi's family.

Senior officials who worked on the Madafferi visa case have told Four Corners the decision to overturn Ruddock's deportation order was appalling, as it exposed the community to harm.

(To Philip Ruddock) Do you stand by your decision that you made as a minister in the Francesco Madafferi case?

PHILIP RUDDOCK: Look, I wouldn't be here talking to you if I didn't, um, believe, um, that weighing up all of the issues that were before me at that time that it was the appropriate decision.

NICK MCKENZIE (to Matt Warren): Should Frank Madafferi have been given a visa?

MATT WARREN: Well, that's not really a question for me to answer. Um, however, on the basis of, ah, of the fact that he had significant criminal convictions, ah, certainly he's not someone that, that we would recommend would be given a visa to, to reside in Australia, for sure.

NICK MCKENZIE: Four Corners can reveal that a secret multi-agency police report found the Madafferi visa case highlighted "the insidious ways" the mafia "enter the social or professional world of public officials and through legitimate processes achieve influence."

MULTI-AGENCY POLICE REPORT (voiceover): There is no suggestion that Vanstone acted corruptly; rather, that members of the Italian community, including 'Ndrangheta members and their families and associates, are likely to have ingratiated themselves with her office and that, through their legitimate public face, were capable of achieving influence.

CLIVE SMALL: The Calabrian mafia doesn't give anything away. Any cent they spend, ah, is because they expect two cents back. Now, in this case what they were doing were making an investment in political connections to, to try and build up pressure to have it overturned.

NICK MCKENZIE: After winning his battle to stay in Australia, Frank Madafferi embarked on the boldest chapter yet in his criminal career.

In 2007, he was under fresh investigation: this time for his links to the world's biggest ecstasy importation.

Police were listening in as he threatened his underworld rivals.

FRANK MADAFFERI (phone conversation; translation): Tell him I want the profit! It's not f****n' his! Or I'm going to bite his throat. I swear on my Mum, I send them to get him, bring him in the car, and I'll f****n' tear him to pieces.

NICK MCKENZIE: Detective Superintendent Matt Warren was convinced that Frank Madafferi was part of the syndicate responsible for the massive ecstasy shipment.

But catching him and his accomplices would not be easy and would involve a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game between police and one of the most dangerous mafia groups in the world.

(End of part 1)

KERRY O'BRIEN: Senator Marise Payne and MP Bruce Billson declined to be interviewed for the program. Senator Payne said in a statement that, when she made representations to the then immigration minister in relation to Frank Madafferi, she had no knowledge of the criminal associations of any party she dealt with.

Bruce Billson told us he was deceived about Madafferi's criminal background and was "bitterly disappointed about it."

Amanda Vanstone and Russell Broadbent did not reply to our requests for comment.

Next week we'll bring you part two of this important expos which reveals the inside story on the world's biggest ecstasy bust; the next crop of mafia leaders in Australia; and Frank Madafferi's Labor connection.

We'll leave you with a taste of what's to come.

Until next Monday, good night.

(Preview of next week's program)

CLIVE SMALL: The Calabrian mafia in Australia is the longest-running crime organisation we've ever had.

ANNOUNCER: A new generation of godfathers...

MATT WARREN: Organised crime figures will try and cultivate people of all walks of life but particularly people with influence.

ANNA SERGI: The links are there. The links are tight and they are based on blood ties.

ANNOUNCER: ...and how they're taking care of business in Australia.

MATT WARREN: These groups are very difficult to defeat. They regroup, they rebound, the reorganise and they'll continue to, because it's their business.

ANNOUNCER: Four Corners, next Monday.

(Preview ends)

END

Background Information

RESPONSES

Senator Marise Payne - The Minister for Human Services, Senator Marise Payne, declined an interview with Four Corners in relation to the report, and sent the following response. [pdf]

MP Bruce Billson - The Minister for Small Business, Bruce Billson, declined an interview with Four Corners in relation to the report, and sent the following response. [pdf]

RELATED NEWS COVERAGE

Key Liberal fundraising body took Mafia money for access | The Age | 29 Jun 2015 - Mafia figures donated tens of thousands of dollars to the discredited NSW Liberal Party fundraising vehicle, the Millennium Forum, as part of an ultimately successful campaign to allow a known criminal to stay in Australia. By Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Michael Bachelard, Sean Nicholls. www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/key-liberal-fundraising-body-took-mafia-money-for-access-20150629-gi07yb.html

Mafia in Australia: Major drug trafficking group linked to senior politicians, investigation reveals Four Corners | ABC News | 29 Jun 2015 - Links between the Calabrian Mafia and senior politicians on both sides of Australia's political fence have been uncovered in a joint investigation by Four Corners and Fairfax newspapers. www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-29/italian-mafia-group-linked-to-senior-australian-politicians/6579076

Political donations wide open to Mafia corruption | The Age | 29 Jun 2015 - The Calabrian Mafia has infiltrated Australian politics at both state and federal levels by ingratiating itself with individual party donors and members of Parliament, according to confidential police reports. By Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Michael Bachelard. www.theage.com.au/national/political-donations-wide-open-to-mafia-corruption-20150628-ghycxk.html

Mafia godfather's son in Australian Rome embassy under Amanda Vanstone | ABC News | 29 Jun 2015 - The son of a prominent Mafia godfather was given work experience at the Australian embassy in Rome that had the potential to compromise international police operations. By Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Michael Bachelard. www.smh.com.au/national/mafia-godfathers-son-in-australian-rome-embassy-under-amanda-vanstone-20150628-ghydoo.html

Glad-handing and influence: mafia taking fast track to the powerful | The Age | 29 Jun 2015 - John Howard moves with practised ease towards the donors' table, shaking hands and mouthing pleasantries. He has no idea of the identity of the man who is turning and extending his hand... Tony Madafferi has been named in two coronial inquests as a Mafia boss and suspected hitman. By Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Michael Bachelard. www.theage.com.au/national/gladhanding-and-influence-mafia-taking-fast-track-to-the-powerful-20150628-ghydu8

Mafia 'linked to senior Australian politicians' | BBC World News | 29 Jun 2015 - Australian politicians have been infiltrated by the Calabrian mafia, according to an investigation by Fairfax Media-ABC Four Corners. It says politicians at both state and federal level are exposed to "potential corruption" with "loopholes" in the political donation system. www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-33306842

Lawyers to apply for injunction stopping Four Corners program on Italian Mafia | ABC News | 26 Jun 2015 - Lawyers for a Melbourne businessman are expected to apply for an injunction stopping the ABC from broadcasting a Four Corners investigation into the Italian Mafia. www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-26/lawyers-apply-injunction-stopping-four-corners-italian-mafia/6574172

Cold Case file remains open on the suspected Mafia slaying of Vincenzo and Alfonso Muratore | Herald Sun | 25 Mar 2015 - ...two of the most unusual unsolved murders on Victoria Police homicide squad books are those of Vincenzo and Alfonso Muratore. What is unusual is that the father and son were murdered in remarkably similar circumstances 28 years apart. Both died after being blasted by a shotgun as they left their Hampton homes in the early hours. Both worked in the Melbourne wholesale fruit and vegetable market and both were embroiled in Calabrian Mafia affairs. www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/cold-case-files-remain-open-on-vincenzo-and-alfonso-muratore/story-fnat7jnn-1226605688251

You say tomato, the court says life for largest drug bust | The Age | 25 May 2015 - The long slippery slope towards a life sentence began for Pasquale Barbaro in June 2007 when customs officials on Melbourne's docks singled out a container of Italian tinned tomatoes. When X-rays showed ''image anomalies'', customs officers began opening them, eventually uncovering a staggering haul of 15 million ecstasy tablets - Australia's biggest ever drug bust and the world's biggest ecstasy haul. www.theage.com.au/victoria/you-say-tomato-the-court-says-life-for-largest-drug-bust-20120524-1z7yl.html

NSW Liberals launch fund-raising body to replace discredited Millennium Forum | SMH | 26 Jul 2014 - In public hearings in May, ICAC heard that senior Liberal Party officials used the Millennium Forum and another Liberal-linked entity, the Free Enterprise Foundation, to funnel prohibited donations, including from property developers, into the 2011 NSW election campaign. www.smh.com.au/nsw/nsw-liberals-launch-fundraising-body-to-replace-discredited-millennium-forum-20140725-zwppv.html

Liberal MPs accused of NSW fundraising hypocrisy | ABC Online | 13 Mar 2012 - New South Wales Government MPs are still helping to raise money from the corporate sector, despite recent changes to political donation laws. www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-13/nsw-liberal-mps-accused-of-corporate-fundraising/3885482

World's biggest ecstasy bust: How a Google search foiled Aussie tomato tin mafia's drug plots | Herald Sun | 13 Feb 2015 - A police sting foiled Mokbel mate Rob Karam's plan to buy 26 tonnes of chemicals to make ice with a street value of $13 billion. Karam - one of Crown casino's top 200 gamblers - was secretly recorded as he arranged to ship the chemicals to Australia and Mexico. What Karam didn't know was the man in Hong Kong he was negotiating the massive deal with was an undercover officer working with Australian Federal Police. www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/worlds-biggest-ecstasy-bust-how-a-google-search-foiled-aussie-tomato-tin-mafias-drug-plots/story-fni0ffnk-1227218948111

Suspected mafia link to Liberal fundraising | AFR | 23 May 2014 - The suspected mafia 'godfather' of Melbourne helped bankroll a Liberal Party marginal federal seat campaign in the 2013 election, raising the prospect that the proceeds of crime have flowed into Liberal coffers. By Nick McKenzie. www.afr.com/news/politics/suspected-mafia-link-to-liberal-fundraising-20140522-iudr8

RESEARCH AND BACKGROUND

CDPP Press Release | 26 Feb 2015 - Thirty-two Australians who were members of a sophisticated international drug trafficking syndicate have been convicted and sentenced to gaol for a total period in excess of 275 years. Non-parole periods of over 222 years have been imposed. The syndicate leader, Pasquale Barbaro, received a head sentence of life imprisonment. www.cdpp.gov.au/news/australias-drug-gang-criminals-prosecuted/

STUDY: The Evolution of the Australian 'ndrangheta: an historical perspective | Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology | 2014 - Written by mafia expert Dr Anna Sergi, this paper explores the phenomenon of the 'ndrangheta - a criminal organisation from Calabria, South of Italy and allegedly the most powerful among the Italian mafias - through its migrating routes, in particular by focusing on the case of Australia. www.academia.edu/8614295/The_evolution_of_the_Australian_ndrangheta._An_historical_perspective

Italian mafia: Who are Cosa Nostra, Camorra, 'Ndrangheta and Sacra Corona Unita? | International Business Times | 7 May 2015 - The Italian organised crime scene has long been dominated by a multitude of clans and mob families, all generally referred to as "mafia". Belonging to one group does not translate into an automatic alliance to other gangs populating them, as families are actually often at war with each other. Nevertheless, geographical contiguity does come with some shared distinctive traits. More... www.ibtimes.co.uk/italian-mafia-who-are-cosa-nostra-camorra-ndrangheta-sacra-corona-unita-1500221

The most powerful mafia you've never heard of | Al Jazeera | 26 Feb 2015 - The 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate - based in Italy's southern Calabria region - is not nearly as well-known as Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia. But the 'Ndrangheta organisation is wealthier and more powerful - with interests spanning the globe from Calabria to Colombia, and as far away as Australia. www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/02/150224083921277.html

'Ndrangheta mafia 'made more last year than McDonald's and Deutsche Bank' | The Guardian | 27 Mar 2014 - Study finds crime network made billions of euros from drug trafficking, illegal rubbish disposal and other activities. www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/26/ndrangheta-mafia-mcdonalds-deutsche-bank-study

'Ndrangheta: Exploring the mafia's underground world | BBC World News | 1 May 2013 - The biggest cocaine smugglers in Europe are the 'Ndrangheta, a mafia from the "toe of Italy", Calabria. They may not be as well known as their Sicilian counterparts but their drugs and extortion business is worth billions of euros. Academic John Dickie joins an elite special forces squad as they search for the mafia's secret bunkers. www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22315469