An Italian aristocrat who played at the same polo club as Prince Harry has been accused of acting as a professional assassin accused of accepting an assassination attempt on another criminal.
His arrest appears to have unraveled a web of criminal arrangements in Rome that linked underworld figures who went by ecclesiastical nicknames, including “The Pope” and “St. Peter”, connected.
Matteo Costacurta, 38, is accused of shooting dead another underworld figure involved in an extortion case in Rome.
Circled in red, Italian aristocrat Matteo Costacurta is accused of shooting dead another underworld figure involved in a racketeering case in Rome
Prince Harry has played matches at Roma Polo Club, the oldest in Italy and the same one frequented by Costacurta
He was one of five people arrested when police broke into an encrypted communications network.
The wealthy aristocrat is said to be linked to the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari (NAR), a right-wing terrorist group that killed 85 people when it bombed the Bologna Centrale train station in 1980 during Italy’s lead years.
Costacurta was a member of the Roma Polo Club, which was founded in the 1930s and is the oldest of its kind in Italy.
The Queen was a spectator in her youth before donning the crown, The Times reported, and Prince Harry has played polo at the club.
The Rome incident began when Alessio Marzani – another alleged underworld figure – reportedly demanded hush money for hiding drugs belonging to another crime boss and remaining silent about it in prison.
Marzani has allegedly asked another person, Daniele Gallarello, for money to keep silent – and demanded 1,000 euros a month.
Costacurta is accused of accepting a payment of 30,000 euros to strike Marzani to stop the blackmail.
Police claim the aristocrat approached an Albanian crime boss, Elvis Demce, adding that the two tracked down Marzani together.
On October 20, 2020, with one man holding a gun and the other piloting the motorcycle, two men sped through the town of Acilia before spotting Mazani, slowing and shooting him in the chest.
The men hit him on the left side of the chest and in the arm, but the victim was able to escape into a building, according to La Repubblica.
A resident opened a door to let him in while a neighbor called the carabinieri and said he heard gunfire.
Police found Marzani injured and took him to San Camillo Hospital for surgery. After 45 days he was released.
Alessandro Corvesi, a retired professional soccer player, pictured left, is allegedly one of the conspiracy’s organizers. Elvis Demce, rumored to be an Albanian crime boss, pictured right, is also said to have been part of the hit
Among the alleged organizers of the hit was Alessandro Corvesi, a retired professional soccer player. Police arrested Corvesi after he was allegedly found with 2kg of cocaine.
Now Costacurta is on trial, but his lawyer says he has turned his back on the extremist of his youth.
“Costacurta was recently in Africa with the nuns who work on the projects of the St. Egidio Community. Does that look like a killer’s profile?’ he said, according to Corriere della Sera.
But The Times quoted a coordinator of the charity’s projects in Africa as saying she had never heard of Costacurta.
Judge Andrea Fanelli, who is overseeing the trial, described Costacurta as “malicious who seemed to go beyond the economic goals of his criminal activity.”
He is the scion of a noble Venetian family and the ongoing case is gaining momentum in Italy.