Carmelo Bruzzese (Italian pronunciation: [karˈmɛːlo brutˈtseːze; -eːse]; born 13 July 1949) is an Italian-Canadian mobster from Grotteria, Calabria, who was connected to the 'Ndrangheta and the Siderno Group branch based in Woodbridge, Ontario.
[1] He returned to Canada on 12 December 2009, to Woodbridge, Ontario, where he settled with his wife, Carla Calabro, who is a Canadian citizen.
[2] At his May 2014 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) hearing, there was a heightened security presence after Carmine Verduci, a 'Ndrangheta member and close associate of Bruzzese's, was gunned down two weeks prior.
[6] At another IRB hearing, Bruzzese had admitted under oath that he had his children physically bring large sums of cash from Italy on a regular basis instead of using bank wire, transfers or electronic transfers; he also acknowledged during his testimony that he drove a BMW registered in another person's name whose last name he did not know; he claimed medications prescribed to another person as his own; and he also bought a $600,000 home in Canada with one of his sons despite stating in the hearing that he did not earn enough money in Canada to file a tax return.
[8] Major Giuseppe De Felice, a commander with the Carabinieri, told the IRB that Bruzzese "assumed the most important roles and decisions.