How Big Frankie duped the wise guys of the Mafia

The wise guys of the Genovese family took in a man they called "Big Frankie" and let him make extra money for them, smuggling cigarettes and disposing of stolen cars. They invited him to their table at their favourite restaurant, Rigoletto in the Bronx, and to parties and weddings. Now they wish they hadn't.

Yesterday the FBI was completing what officials described as the most important round-up of Mafia operatives in New York's history. Now facing charges for everything from loan-sharking to extortion are 73 members and associates of the Genovese family. And they have Big Frankie to thank.

For 27 months, Big Frankie – an undercover agent for New York's organised crime task force – brazenly infiltrated high circles of the clan, posing as the owner of a New Jersey haulage firm which could slice up hot cars and make the parts disappear. One of those he duped was Pasquale "Patsy" Parrello, Rigoletto's owner, who was described as the captain of an important Genovese crew based in the Bronx.

The arrests have been hailed as a breakthrough but also serve as a reminder that the Mafia, though weaker than it once was, is still busy in the city. Members of Mr Parrello's crew were allegedly plotting, for instance, to steal $US6m ($NZ14.4m) in payroll cash from The New York Times. Big Frankie, whose real name we may never know, was being credited for ensuring that the raid never happened.

One of those allegedly conspiring to hit the newspaper was named as Joseph Savarese, a retired New York police officer who also later worked at the Times and the New York Post. When he was taken to FBI headquarters on Wednesday, he was introduced to Big Frankie and put in the picture about his real identity. "The blood drained from his face and he turned white," a source said later.

Big Frankie had to move out of the city midway through the mission when he started to bump into Mafia associates in the Staten Island neighbourhood that was his real home. He was being compared yesterday to Donnie Brasco, the undercover name of an FBI agent, actually called Joe Pistone, who similarly infiltrated the Mafia during the late Seventies. That story was made into a box office hit, Donnie Brasco, with Johnny Depp and Al Pacino.

- INDEPENDENT