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A Montreal Mafia leader already well known for his ability to intimidate and threaten people has been charged with threatening a TVA reporter who recently did a story about him.

Project Colisée, a lengthy police investigation in the Montreal Mafia, not only revealed that Francesco (Chit) Del Balso, 48, was a leader in the Rizzuto organization (before his arrest in 2006) but that he was also very adept at threatening people. Several conversations recorded during the investigation involved Del Balso issuing threats. One of the more notorious calls involved Del Balso trying to discourage the owner of a ceramic-tile company from returning to do business in Montreal again.

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“We would like it if you didn’t come back here to do work,” Del Balso told the man in January 2004. When the man demanded to know who was telling him where he could or could not do business, Del Balso replied: “It’s OK who I am, OK? Because the next time, you’re not going to leave.”