Overview

• The Court of Cassation rejected the defense appeal, activating the previously ordered pretrial custody measure.
• Maria Concetta Riina and her husband, Antonino Ciavarello, will be taken to prison, with Ciavarello already detained in a separate fraud case.
• Prosecutors accuse the pair of aggravated extortion using the mafia method and attempted extortion targeting two Tuscan entrepreneurs.
• After a gip initially denied custody, Florence’s Tribunal of Review accepted the prosecutors’ appeal, citing serious indications of guilt and the mafia aggravating circumstance.
• The DDA of Florence and the Carabinieri’s ROS began the inquiry in August 2024, documenting repeated, intimidating demands for money that led at least one victim to pay.