A Toronto man remains at large after a massive Canadian and Italian police operation targeting what authorities call a multimillion-dollar Mafia organization run by a Vaughan man.

Giacomo Cassano, 46, of Toronto, remains at large after alleged mob boss Angelo Figliomeni, 56, and eight others in the GTA were arrested following a police operation called Project Sindicato that saw some 500 bank accounts shut down and $35-million in assets seized last week.

Police have warrants against Cassano for keeping a common gaming house, conspiracy to keep a common gaming house and possession of oxycodone for the purpose of trafficking.

Figliomeni has been charged with eight offences related to directing a criminal organization, money laundering, defrauding the government and running a gaming house.

Also charged with committing crimes for the benefit of a criminal organization is Salvatore Oliveti, 54, of Oakville, who faces five charges related to possession of the proceeds of crime, money laundering and careless storage of a firearm.

Oliveti, a former CHIN radio and television personality, made the news in 2002 when Montreal newspaper La Presse reported that Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto was pulled over by police driving a Jeep registered to a waste disposal company run by Oliveti.

At the time, Oliveti denied any connection to Rizzuto and Rizzuto denied any connection to Oliveti’s company.

Rizzuto was considered by police to be Canada’s top Mafia boss when he died of natural causes in December 2013.

Rizzuto was confined to a Colorado prison from 2007 to 2012 for his role in three 1981 murders in New York City that were part of a power struggle within the Bonanno crime family.

Project Sindicato also included investigators from the Canada Revenue Agency, Ontario Provincial Police, Peel Regional Police, Canada Border Services and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and a tracking dog from Hamilton police.

The project began out of investigations into violence connected to illegal gaming.

Police say the organization was involved in illegal gambling and loansharking, and laundered some of its money through regular visits to legal, government-run casinos.

The arrests were announced last week at a York Region news conference attended by Fausto Lamporelli of the Italian state police, who praised a high level of cooperation between Canadian and Italian investigators.

“These two investigations became one,” Lamporelli said through an interpreter.

Also charged with committing crimes for the benefit of a criminal organization are Emilio Zannuti, 48, Vito Sili, 37, Nicola Martino, 52, Rafael Lepore, 59, and Francesco Vitucci, 44, all of Vaughan; Erica Quintal, 30, of Bolton; and Giuseppe Ciurleo, 30, of Toronto.

In Italy, a dozen related arrests were also made last week targeting a branch of the Mafia called the ’Ndrangheta.

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