The 69-year-old man injured in an attempted murder Wednesday afternoon in the Rivière-des-Prairies neighborhood in Montreal is Serafino Oliverio, aka Sergio Lopez.
The Montreal Police Department has said that the life of the 60-year-old, who was allegedly shot in the ankle and forearm, is out of danger. He is currently in hospital, surrounded by relatives.
A call was made to 911 around 4:30 p.m. for gunshots heard on Boulevard Gouin Est, near Avenue Paul-Dufault. Upon their arrival on the scene, the police located more than twenty cartridge cases and at least one bullet impact on a vehicle parked on Boulevard Gouin Est, according to our information.
It appears that Serafino Oliverio had just left his home when he was allegedly targeted by two suspects. He went to the hospital himself about 30 to 40 minutes later.
Investigators and forensic identification technicians were sent to analyze the scene. A perimeter has been set up on the premises.
The suspects, who reportedly did not abandon a weapon on the spot, were not arrested.
A discreet man
Serafino Oliverio, a construction contractor, is considered by the police to be the leader of a relatively independent Montreal mafia clan and has been present for several years in the north of Montreal, where its members have several bars and other businesses.
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Serafino Oliverio
The Lopez-Oliverio clan has always conducted its affairs discreetly before the spotlight of the Sûreté du Québec investigators was shone on it during the Magot-Mastiff investigation, between 2013 and 2015.
Three brothers, Franco, Giuseppe and Pasquale Lopez, considered to be the nephews of Serafino Oliverio, were accused of having supplied cocaine to a trafficker in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district when it was out of stock during the investigation. But they later benefited from a stay of proceedings.
Since 2019, cafes and other establishments, including a restaurant on Boulevard Gouin in the Rivière-des-Prairies district considered to be Serafino Oliverio’s headquarters, have been the targets of arson. Even recently, a car belonging to a member of the Lopez family was reportedly sprayed with gasoline in its driveway in the northeast of the metropolis, according to our sources.
Serafino Oliverio has no criminal history.
In 2018, a judge sentenced him and his company, Développement Olicon, to pay a fine of $ 75,000 to the Quebec Revenue Agency (ARQ) for taxes not paid to the government.
Seen with a mafia lieutenant
In November 2013, Serafino Oliverio had to give up keeping four handguns he owned, after the Quebec Firearms Controller refused to renew his licenses, “because the Coliseum investigation established that he was maintaining relations with the Rizzuto clan known as a criminal organization ”, could one read on the note of refusal produced by the controller.
The prosecutor in the case had notably filed the summary of 400 pages of the Colosseum investigation conducted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police against the Montreal mafia in the early 2000s, referring in particular to the day of April 19, 2005.
That day, entrepreneur Tony Magi – now dead – was kidnapped by strangers and managed to escape. Shortly after, he had met, in the company of Serafino Oliverio and Tony Volpato, the lieutenant of the mafia Francesco Arcadi and his right-hand man, Francesco Del Balso at the bar Laennec in Laval.
Serafino Oliverio had replied that the reasons supporting the refusal of the Chief Firearms Officer were false, unjustified, unfounded and damaged his reputation. He had described himself as a respected businessman and responsible citizen who always adopted exemplary conduct.
In 2018, a building that houses a business owned by the Oliverio-Lopez family in northern Montreal caught fire when a fire, presumably accidental, broke out in cryptocurrency servers installed in the basement.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, extension 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of Press.