Għal malta ġusta, moderna
B’Saħħitha u sabiħa

How Toto' Riina's family used Malta as its working base

A lot of fuss is being made about the programme to appear this evening on RAI 3, at 9.20 pm about Toto' Riina in Gozo.I don't know what the programme will contain, but this fact is all rehashed news. We, or at least I, all knew that Toto' Riina had this villa in Qala, with this breath taking view of Comino and the Gozo fliegu....in early eighties and nineties. We all know that Toto' Riina spent time in the villa when he was one of the most wanted persons in Italy. Obviously, to do this he must have had accomplices in the Sicilian authorities, and I would not be surprised if he had authorities in Malta closing their eyes too. At that time Malta was not in EU. So passports were stamped. So, either Toto' Riina entered Malta with false passport and different name......or he had friends in Malta to help him out. But I have no proof of that. What nobody seems to know is that, after Toto' Riina's capture in 1993, his family continued to operate from Malta.Now, it is a sacred principle in life that children must never be guilty of their father's crimes. So his children had all the right to work honestly in Malta. Unfortunately, they did not limit themselves to that.Until two years ago, his daughter, Maria Concetta Riina, was living in Malta. She was living there with her husband, Antonio Ciavarello. Maria Concetta worked with a cleaning company. She worked also at the Lily of the Valley school in Mosta.Her husband, Antonino Ciavarello, was doing plastering works here in Malta. On 24 January 2022 the Italian police issued an international warrant of arrest against Antonio Ciavarello. The Maltese authorities did nothing.Instead, a month later, on 23/03/2022 Identita' Malta issued Ciavarello an ID card nr ID -----3A, valid till 22/03/2027. Address in Malta was Triq l-Antinni, Mosta. Not content with this, Ciavarello was also issued VAT number MT26687627, in name of his company AC Trade. All this, while the Maltese authorities were in possession of the international arrest warrant against Ciavarello.This went on for 2 whole years, till 8 February 2024, when Ciavarello was finally arrested and extradited to Italy on accusations of being in connivance with the Mafia. The Brindisi court wanted him in connection with a conviction for fraud and violation of bail.His wife, Maria Concetta Riina, the cleaner in the Maltese school, was sent to jail in Italy on 16 October 2025 on the accusation of attempted extortion, mafia style, on two businessmen in Firenze. Toto' Riina's other son, Giuseppe Salvatore Riina, is known as Salvo. He has been condemned to 8 years prison for Mafia activity. After being released from jail in Italy, Salvo was issued an ID card by Identita' Malta on 04/02/2020 valid till 02/02/2025, number is -----6A. His registered address reads: ----, Triq il-Vitorja, Isla.Salvo, who had been found guilty of trying to refound the mafia in Corleone, has graduated at University and has become quite an accomplished author and has written books about the Riina family, such as 'The house of Riina, family life' published in 2016, where he basically glorifies his father.This is the Malta we lived in under the PN. This is the Malta we live in now, under PL. The lesson to be learnt from this experience: Toto Riina entered Malta even though he was one of the most wanted criminals worldwide when we were not part of Schengen and hence any Italian had to pass through immigration (passport control) in the eighties and nineties. Did he go through immigration controls? Did he enter illegally? Does this mean the authorities failed in conducting effective controls?What about controls today? Do we need to revisit our system? Does it need refining?Also, how come Ciavarello was issued with an ID and even registered with VAT when a European Arrest Warrant was already issued? What checks are our authorities doing?We should answer these questions honestly and eliminate the defects in the system to ensure that the security of our country is enhanced. ... See MoreSee Less