King Island Dairy Saputo owners historical Mafia connections (part 2)

By Tess Lawrence

Continued from Part 1

1981

Researching this article I came across a comprehensive and courageous documentary detailing the Saputo family’s connections with Don Joe Bonanno.

It’s a complex story to unravel even now. Probably the first to do so in any depth was journalist Sharon Kha. In 1981 on KGUN-9 TV, Tuscon, Arizona she fronted her riveting documentary entitled The Big Cheese: Joe Bonanno’s Notes. It was dynamite television. Still is, as you can see.

 

 

• The Big cheese : Joe Bonanno’s notes / KGUN-TV ; producers, Sharon Kha, Gene Einfrank ; writer, Sharon Kha. Consultant Gene Ehmann.

• The program was broadcast December 2, 1981 by KGUN, Tucson, Ariz. Also an entry in the 1981 Peabody Awards competition for television, no. 81026 DCT, Gene Ehmann. University of Georgia – Special Collections Libraries

Kha was only 4ft 10 inches, but she put the wind up Bonanno and La Cosa Nostra as well when her documentary aired. Today, some of us stand on her diminutive shoulders, me included. She was a trailblazer and joined the dots on the first layer of this saga.

She worked alongside Eugene (Gene) Ehmann, a former Arizona Drug Control Investigator now turned author, who painstakingly worked on the Bonanno case that was to establish connections with Saputo. He was seconded to the FBI task force at the time and was a consultant for Kha’s groundbreaking documentary. He’s since given a number of interviews about it.

FBI/Ehmann Given OK to Search Bonanno’s Trash

Ehmann and colleagues secured legal permission (in 1975) to search Bonanno’s trash cans and they were to find a treasure trove of torn up documents that they were to piece together like a jigsaw. The documents reflected a relationship between the Mafia mobster Don Bonanno and Saputo.

 

 

Kha died last year, dammit. Parkinson’s disease had ravaged her body but not her intellect or sense of humour. A communicator to the end, she became a rap artist, fundraiser and dedicated advocate for Parkinson’s sufferers.

1983

Bonanno Writes Autobiography

In 1983 Joseph Bonanno’s autobiography, co-written with Sergio Lilli rolled off the presses, causing a sensation full of sound and fury, as Joe himself may well have writ.

He did the unforgiveable.

How could he have broken the sacred code of omerta! Surely he was inviting a payback bullet and eternal silence.

With deliberate irony, his book’s title said it all, A Man of Honor, The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Given the Mafia’s tentacles reach into every tier of society, there was almost a stampede to grab a copy to see if he named names. He did. At least some. And he was very selective where he threw shade.

And we now know that when it came to discussing his relationship with the Saputo family – and his role and investments in their business, he either lied and/or withheld the truth.

Rudy Giuliani, who was a brilliant prosecutor and attorney long before hair dye leached into his brain, claimed that Bonanno’s book provided him with an insider’s blueprint of the Mafia’s modus operandi, enabling the federal prosecutor to take down members of organised crime and mobsters under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (RICO).

The statute signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970, was not only an effective legal touchstone for Giuliani but also for other law enforcers and entities to this day, to the ironical extent that the famous prosecutor himself was to be prosecuted under the very Act that had once served him – and the state – so very well.

 

1983

In 1983, Giuliani became the US Attorney for the Southern District.

The Mob Museum in Las Vegas is a respected resource on the Mafia and ancillary actors. From the website:

“Giuliani announced that his top priority as U.S. attorney was to defeat organized crime in New York, where the chiefs of the so-called “Five Families” lived and operated. He read Mob boss *Joseph Bonanno’s 1983 memoir A Man of Honor, in which Bonanno described meetings with bosses of the other four families – Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese – a national ruling body referred to as “the Commission.” The Commission, going back to 1931, met secretly to settle differences, consider new members, approve murders and dole out money earned through racketeering. Giuliani received permission from Washington to pursue a case against the Commission. By 1984, 350 FBI agents and 100 New York Police detectives were investigating the Mob. At the time, an estimated 1,000 “made” men and 5,000 Mob associates lived in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and elsewhere.”

• Bold case emphasis by the writer.

Don’t forget Giuliani was once regarded as ‘America’s Mayor’ after the tragedy of 9/11, long before his Trump downfall and deep, deep demise.

Who can forget the stooged interview attempt by Sacha Baron Cohen, before the latter got his own comeuppance when he was later called out by Rebel Wilson?

It was Oprah Winfrey who reinforced the former and apopular Mayor of New York with the honorific ‘America’s Mayor’ at a 9/11 memorial service at Yankee Stadium, a fortnight after the horrors shook America – and the world. The aftershocks still reverberate.

Giuliani ought not be judged solely because of his ill fitting dentures, nor mocked for his earlier priestly ambition. In fairness, cometh the hour, cometh the man in this case, enter Mayor Giuliani, once Time magazine’s Person of the Year who also received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth.

Bonanno, Scholar of Shakespeare and Thucydides

Joseph Bonanno was said to be able to quote Shakespeare, Thucydides and suchlike. He was a sartorial and elegant dresser, his bespoke clothes tailored in cashmere and the finest textiles. His book cover could equally be a cover for Esquire magazine.

Many mobster bosses made elegantly dressed corpses whether they died of natural Mafia causes (the assassin’s bullet) or Mafia unnatural causes (old age). For Joe ‘Bananas’ it was the latter. He was 97 when he died in 2002.

 

 

1997

Saputo Business Goes Public

Saputo went public in 1997, listing on the Montreal and Toronto Stock Exchanges under the symbol SAP with an initial public offering of 8,235,300 Common Shares at $17.00 per share for a total offering of $140 million.

It had further fattened its share of the international market with the acquisition of the familiar Stella Foods, tripling in size.

On a cheese roll, the company also scoffed up Crémerie des Trois-Rivières ltée.

2018

Saputo Pays $1.3 billion for Murray Goulburn

In early May, Saputo settled its $1.3 billion takeover of Murray Goulburn. The Financial Review’s Rich List Editor, Julie-anne Sprague wrote a fascinating background article on the deal.

2019

Saputo Family Renowned Philanthropists

On November 1, Businesswire published an article recounting how:

“… A visionary gift of $10 million from the Mirella & Lino Saputo Foundation and the Amelia & Lino Saputo Jr. Foundation will allow the creation of a first-of-its-kind multi-stakeholder collaboration centre at Concordia University…

… Lino A. Saputo Jr., BA 89, co-chair for the Campaign for Concordia and chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Montreal-based Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP), says this major gift is a pragmatic investment for his family. “The SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation will support tomorrow’s social entrepreneurs to solve critical issues – from the ground up – in partnership with community groups,” he says. “Marrying academia and entrepreneurship with grassroots social innovation at Concordia will go a long way to improving society.”

“Our foundation supports several causes, including hospitals and health, yet a big part of our philanthropic focus is on education,” says Amelia Saputo, BA 90, president of the Amelia & Lino Saputo Jr. Foundation. “We are proud that our gift will advance the next generation of Concordia students to develop, explore, achieve and contribute to the betterment of society…”

2022

On April 28, Saputo did a bit of self-aggrandisement, issuing a press release stating it had:

“… generously donated $10,000 in funding support to the Meeniyan Dumbalk United Football Netball Club (MDUFNC). Putting these funds to good use, the Club was pleased to install new goal posts, padding and netting at the Meeniyan Recreation Reserve. The updated facility is officially open for community use…

… “The Meeniyan Dumbalk United Football Netball Club is small country club, just a short drive from our Leongatha manufacturing facility and in a key milk supply area. We are pleased to support this project as it aligns with our ongoing promise to never stop building a future we can be proud of… ”

2024

In September last year, the European Supermarket Magazine’s (ESM) Robert McHugh referred to a Rabobank report Global Dairy Top 20 quoting Saputo as being #10 in the world’s Top Twenty dairy companies:

10. Saputo (Canada)
Turnover: €11.9 billion (2023)
Saputo retains the same tenth position as last year, with a turnover of €11.9 billion in 2023.
The Canadian firm recently reported a 9.5% increase in revenue, year-on-year, in the first half of its financial year.

To be continued… (Link to Part 3)

 

© Tess Lawrence

 

Tess Lawrence is Contributing editor-at-large for Independent Australia and her most recent article is The night Porter and allegation of rape.

 

 

 

 

Dear reader, we need your support

Independent sites such as The AIMN provide a platform for public interest journalists. From its humble beginning in January 2013, The AIMN has grown into one of the most trusted and popular independent media organisations.

One of the reasons we have succeeded has been due to the support we receive from our readers through their financial contributions.

With increasing costs to maintain The AIMN, we need this continued support.

Your donation – large or small – to help with the running costs of this site will be greatly appreciated.

You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969