MONTREAL — The grandpa in Canada’s most notorious Mafia family pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and settled his debts with the tax man.
It took less than 15 minutes in a courtroom for octogenarian Nicolo Rizzuto to walk out a free man. It had taken 15 years to bring his tax case to court.
The case stems from infractions committed in the mid 1990s by Rizzuto, the father of reputed Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto.
He admitted failing to declare interest revenues from more than $5 million deposited in Swiss bank accounts.
In 1994 and 1995, Rizzuto earned $627,906 in interest from the foreign accounts and didn’t declare it. Police uncovered the Swiss accounts in the mid-’90s, but didn’t pursue the case.
Tax authorities only discovered the accounts when Rizzuto was swept up in a massive police dragnet against organized crime in 2006.