Italian taxpayers may have paid for mafia chief's operation

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John Hooper in Rome
Wednesday March 2, 2005
The Guardian

Anti-mafia investigators have known for a long time that Bernardo Provenzano is wily. The alleged boss of bosses of Sicily's Cosa Nostra has been on the run for 42 years. But now they suspect he is cheeky, too.

Yesterday, prosecutors in Palermo were said to be looking into whether Mr Provenzano had an operation at a private clinic in the south of France and got the Italian health service to pay the bill.

It was reported last week that Mr Provenzano, 72, had secretly had a prostate operation at a clinic near Marseille in October 2003. The newspaper Corriere della Sera said yesterday that Mr Provenzano had used the name of Gaspare Troia, a baker from near Palermo, who is a year older than him.

Mr Troia's son, Salvatore, was among almost 50 people arrested in January for allegedly providing protection and logistical support to the boss. Investigators suspect he accompanied Mr Provenzano to France.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1428139,00.html