Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo has strongly denied an Italian newspaper report that suggested a Gozo property once served as a hideout for notorious Sicilian Mafia boss Salvatore “Totò” Riina and alleged a connection to him.Refalo called the claims “absolute hogwash,” insisting the report is entirely false.The Italian daily La Stampa published a story asserting that Riina, one of Sicily’s most feared Mafia leaders, had used a sea‑view villa in Qala while on the run and that Refalo was linked to the property. The report also claimed Riina was a frequent visitor to Gozo.Refalo rejected the allegation outright, denying ever owning the villa in question. Speaking to Times of Malta, he said the Italian report was “factually incorrect” and characterised any attempt to connect him with the late mob boss as “cheap sensationalism,” according to The Malta Independent.The minister explained that he had only leased the property in June 2002, nearly a decade after Riina’s arrest in 1993.He noted that at the time of the lease, the property’s owner was represented by a lawyer acting on her behalf. Refalo also said he had no knowledge of any claimed historical link between the villa and Riina.Salvatore “Totò” Riina was widely known as il capo dei capi (“boss of bosses”) and was regarded as one of the most ruthless figures in Sicilian Mafia history.As leader of the Corleonesi faction in the 1980s and early 1990s, he oversaw a brutal campaign of violence against the Italian state, including the 1992 murders of anti‑mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Riina died in November 2017 after decades in prison.What do you make of this?•