Ambulance driver with 'mafia links' accused of killing patients for funeral commission
An ambulance driver in Italy has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of killing at least three people to make money from their funerals.
The 42-year-old man is said to have recommended a funeral agency linked to the Sicilian mafia to their families, for which he was paid a $461 (300 Euro) commission for each service.
He is alleged to have injected air into the veins of the terminally-ill patients while they were being driven to their family homes from hospital in the Sicilian town of Biancavilla, causing an embolism which killed them.
The scheme, dubbed the "Ambulance of Death" by police, had reportedly been going on since 2012 and potentially involves many other victims.
Police arrested the man after an informant, said to be a reformed mafia member, reported the scheme to authorities and an investigative TV documentary.
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According to reports, 12 deaths in Biancavilla have been seen as “meaningful” but only three have been presented to the investigating magistrate as evidence.
The Local reported that an arrest order has been issued for the ambulance driver, who is charged with voluntary homicide aggravated by the alleged mafia involvement.
