Giuseppe Palminteri (born 1894) was an Italian-American business owner and forger and former safecracker. He was the top of his field in his home country of Italy, being hired by the Sicilian Mafia directly for many jobs. After fleeing Italy during Benito Mussolini's rise to power, Palminteri moved his services to New York City, though retired a decade later. At his business, he sold lockpicks, firearms, and Molotov cocktails, as well as offering his forging services to customers.
Biography[]
Early life and career[]
Giuseppe Palminteri was born in 1894 in Sicily, Italy. He was extremely poor as a child, being forced to break into homes and shops for food and medicine; eventually, he moved on to safecracking and forgery, which eventually resulted in Palminteri being noticed by the Sicilian Mafia who hired him for several jobs. One of these jobs included breaking thirteen notorious mobsters (including Silvio Clemente, the uncle of Don Alberto Clemente) out of jail. Palminteri quickly became the most talented forger and safecracker in Italy, being hired by the Mafia, the Camorra, and even some criminal organizations abroad in Europe.
Move to the United States and retirement[]
However, Palminteri was forced to flee Italy after Benito Mussolini took power in 1922. He left for New York City, moving his services there to work for the American Mafia. Palminteri used his forgery and safecracking skills for a decade, retiring in 1932 with a sizable amount of money. However, he used a small portion of this money to open a shop in an apartment building, selling his forgery services as well as illicit goods such as lockpicks, Molotov cocktails and firearms. Clemente crime family associate Joe Barbaro visited his shop regularly, introducing his friend Vito Scaletta to Palminteri after getting a job to boost a car for Mike Bruski. He successfully forged discharge papers for Scaletta on 8 February 1945, while he was on leave after being shot, also buying lockpicks from Palminteri.
In 1951, Barbaro, now a Moretti made man, was approached by Vinci crime family men while visiting Palminteri's shop, taking him with them. While Scaletta was looking for Barbaro, Palminteri stated that Barbaro was there and taken by Vinci men; Scaletta assumed they took him to the Mona Lisa bar, and left to find him.