A Catholic nun with the Sisters of the Charity Institute in Milan has reportedly been arrested in connection with a myriad of mafia-related crimes. CNN reports, Sister Anna Donelli, 57, was among 25 people arrested in the mob bust for crimes including “aiding and abetting extortion, drug trafficking, receiving stolen goods, usury, tax crimes and money laundering.”
Anti-mafia police said that Sister Anna Donelli, known as “Sister Collina” among prison inmates, volunteered at several prisons in and around Brescia, in the northern part of Lombardy. Donelli is facing accusations of being an intermediary between mob bosses on the inside and associates on the outside involved with Italy’s notorious ’Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate based in Calabria.
According to prosecutor Francesco Prete, Donelli “carried orders, directives, moral and material aid to associates, receiving in turn from the prisoners useful information to better plan criminal strategies.”
Donelli was able to freely come and go from the prison because of her connection with the convent, exploiting the role she had in delivering spiritual care and comfort to inmates.
“Officially, Donelli worked as a liaison between prison officials and prisoners in addition to acting as a soccer referee during prisoners’ free time, according to an interview she gave the religious news network TV2000 in 2020 about her work,” according to CNN.
During the raid of several locations, 300 anti-mafia police officers uncovered a total of €1.8 million ($1.9 million) in cash. Special police dogs were also used to sniff out drugs.
According to the New York Post, “the alleged gang was connected to the issuance of 12 million euros worth of invoices for non-existent transactions that enabled complicit entrepreneurs to lower their income and evade taxes in return for a commission paid to mobsters.”
The ‘Ndrangheta, originally from the poorer region of Calabria, has evolved into Italy’s most powerful Mafia organization. Their activity spreads across the world “penetrating into so-called white-collar crime.”