New Mob boss

Press, 16 August 1978, Page 8

New Mob boss

NZPA New York Frank "Funzi” Tieri, the low-key 74-year-old head of a New York crime family, is reported to have emerged as the most powerful Mafia chieftain in America. Since the death of Carlo Gambino in October 1976, organised-crime investigators have been attempting to pinpoint the top boss of America’s 24 crime families, the five most powerful of which are in New York.

The most powerful Mob chief used to be called the “boss of all bosses” but because of the way organised crime operations overlap there had been no such leader in the last couple of decades, according to a highly-placed police source. But of all the family heads, one is always the most powerful. And Tieri, the source said, “has emerged as the leading crime figure in the United States today.” Tieri, he said, was primarily involved in gambling and loan sharking, but also includes labour racketeering, narcotics, and prostitution. Earlier this year, eight reputed members of the Genovese family, which Tieri runs, were found murdered within two weeks. The source said the killings were “internal,” indicating Tieri’s determination to maintain control in his own house before exerting influence on other families.