Antônio Petrus Kalil

Antônio Petrus Kalil (born March 1925),[1] known as Turcão ("Big Turk"), came to public prominence in Brazil as one of the operators of the jogo do bicho ("the animals' game"), a popular illegal lottery. Kalil ran the game in a number of towns, including Niteroi, and was one of 14 bicheiros—or "bankers" as the game's operators are known—who were sentenced to six years' imprisonment in May 1993 for operating a criminal enterprise. Kalil's brother Jose, known as "Zinho", was among those convicted. Denise Frossard, the judge in the case, wrote in 2007 that it was the first time the existence of a mafia-type organization had been recognized in Brazil.[2] According to Frossard, Kalil was one of the organization's bosses in 1981.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ (Portuguese) (subscription required) "Aos 82, Turcão já não comanda os negócios da família", Folha de S. Paulo, April 22, 2007; also available here, Ministério da Fazenda, accessed December 31, 2010.
  2. ^ For the preceding details of the game, where Kalil ran it, and his sentencing, see Frossard, Denise. "Women in Organized Crime in Brazil", in Fiandaca, Giovanni (ed.). Women and the Mafia. Springer, 2007, pp. 200–201, particularly p. 201.
    For confirmation that Frossard was the judge in the case, see: Margolis, Mac. "Last Samba for Brazil's Powerful Lottery Lords?", Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1993; Rohter, Larry. "Brazilian Numbers Game Ties Officials to Mobsters", The New York Times, June 7, 2007.
  3. ^ Frossard 2007, p. 194.