Man with ties to Mafia in Montreal missing
The Montreal police are investigating the disappearance of a man with known ties to the Mafia in Montreal.
Giuseppe Renda, 53, was last seen leaving his home on Friday and was reported as missing later the same day, said Montreal police Lt. Ian Lafrenière. The police later recovered his car on St. Urbain St., in Little Italy, either late Friday night or early Saturday morning. It is being examined for possible evidence, Lafrenière said, adding that so far investigators have found no signs of foul play.
In 2001, Renda was part of a large group of people, including several who had ties to the Rizzuto organization, arrested as part of an investigation into illegal bookmaking. The charges against Renda were withdrawn in 2002 when the ringleader, a Montreal restaurant owner, pleaded guilty in the case and was fined $300,000, which was a record for such a sentence at the time.
Stefano Sollecito, a son of Rocco Sollecito, a man identified as one of the leaders of the Rizzuto organization in an RCMP investigation dubbed Project Colisée, was also arrested in the 2001 bookmaking bust.
Police sources said Renda, who was born in the U.S., used to have close ties to Gerlando Sciascia, a Mafioso who lived in Montreal for many years and was killed in New York in 1999 as part of an internal purge within the Bonanno crime family. A police source also confirmed a report, in the Journal de Montréal, that Renda was known to have ties to Salvatore "Sal the Ironworker" Montagna, a man who was believed to have been aspiring to take over as head of the Mafia in Montreal until he was killed in November on Île Vaudry, a small island just northeast of Montreal.
Police also said they believe Giuseppe Renda is not related to Paolo Renda, the brother-in-law of Vito Rizzuto, who was apparently kidnapped in 2010. Paolo Renda is still considered as missing.
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