Mayfair Mafia

It is a little known fact that one immigrant Italian family ran London's thriving vice trade unchecked from the mid-1930s for some twenty years.

The five Messina brothers imported prostitutes from the Continent on an industrial scale, acquiring the women British citizenship by phony marriages. Demanding 80% of earnings, the Messina family became fabulously wealthy, purchasing expensive properties, cars and influence.

As this revealing and absorbing account describes, the brothers ruled with a ruthless combination of charm, blackmail and all too credible threats of disfigurement and death.

It took a sensational Sunday newspaper expos� to get the authorities to act. A series of dramatic arrests and trials followed and one by one the brothers were imprisoned and deported for crimes including immoral earnings, attempted bribery and firearms offenses.

Such was their fortune that numerous potential beneficiaries came forward, most recently in 2012.

The author, a much published former Metropolitan police officer, has researched the remarkable criminal careers of the five Messina's and the result is a riveting and shocking read.

Este putin cunoscut faptul ca o familie de imigranti italieni a condus comertul prosper al Londrei fara control de la mijlocul anilor 1930, timp de vreo douazeci de ani. Cei cinci frati Messina au importat prostituate de pe continent pe scara industriala, dobandind femeilor cetatenia britanica prin casatorii false. Cerand 80% din castiguri, familia Messina a devenit fabulos bogata, achizitionand proprietati scumpe, masini si influenta. Dupa cum descrie acest cont revelator si absorbant, fratii au condus cu o combinatie nemiloasa de farmec, santaj si amenintari prea credibile de desfigurare si moarte. A fost nevoie de o expozitie senzationala de ziar duminicala pentru a determina autoritatile sa actioneze.