Bruno Modafferi

Bruno Modafferi is a member of the 'Ndrangheta and head of the Modafferi 'ndrina which he formed in 1933. He controls many construction firms, black-market operations and gambling. In 1966 he formed a partnership with Salvatore Miot to distribute marijuana into Sydney and Melbourne.

Early Life
Bruno grew up in the poor regions of southern Italy with violence around him. His older brother, Franciso Modafferi, was a commerista within a powerful 'Ndrangheta clan of the locale of Plati. In the early 1920s Bruno was made a picciotti d’onore within that clan under his brothers command, he was well respected and was seen to one day rise high within the mafia structure. But in 1926 Benito Mussolini launched a violent crackdown on the mafia to gain complete control over the south of Italy. Fascist officers stormed Plati where they used torture and even hostage tactics by taking women and children to drew out the mafia until eventually they gained control. Fransico was captured by the fascist's and hung in the street. Bruno was able to escape the Fascist purge with little belongings and bought a ticket on a ship bound for Australia.

Life in Australia
Bruno arrived in Australia in 1927 and went to work in the canefields of Queensland for a wealthy Italian landowner who had been disfigured for refusing to pay protection money to a local Calabrian hoodlum. Bruno had anticipated a legitimate living in Australia but the Italian omertà of silence made new arrivals easy prey for the small-time mafia hoodlums who ran under the banner of the Black Hand and most had also fled from Mussolini's brutal purge. Despite the high mafia activity already established in Queenland, Bruno kept his back turned to criminal activities and in 1931 married a young Italian girl named Maria Fiorini. Maria was the daughter of a struggling Italian cane farmer who had just managed to secure a small canefield and was desperately trying to make a living despite Black Hand threats for protection money. Bruno joined his new father-in-law and brother-in-law, Tolio Fiorini, on the land.

Bruno and Tolio never knew that the family was suffering from constant Black Hand extortion. Fiorini would leave money in an old tin on the outer limits of the farm for the Black Hand or face a destroyed crop and threats of harm. He maintained constant payments until the Black Hand demand grew so overwhelming that he simply refused to pay. It was around this time in 1933 when Maria gave birth their first son, Marius. Three weeks later she was killed when a bomb went off under the house killing her instantly and blinding Fiorini when debris ripped through his eyes. Despite this, Fiorini never told his distraught and vengeful son and son-in-law of the Black Hand extortion. A month later he put a shotgun in his mouth. It was not until Bruno found letters addressed to Fiorini demanding immediate protection payment.

Bruno and Tolio went after each member of the Black Hand who had planted the bomb. Bruno's dark soul was unleashed and he had reached a point where there was no turning back. He employed the same vicious force that Mussolini's army had done. He carried out brazen public executions of Black Hand members in the street, he took their family members hostage to draw out those who had gone into hiding. For the three Black Hand members who had directly planted the bomb, Bruno took their hands and eyes before killing them and their families.

Bruno and Tolio's desire for vengeance grew into a thirst for power. With a chaotic void now open in Queensland mafia activities, they took the opportunity and formed their own crime syndicate. To beat the rival Black Hand groups, Bruno and Tolio ran legitimate protection rackets for local farmers who could no longer maintain the growing Black Hand payments. As the years passed Bruno and Tolio moved into gambling, horse fixing and loan sharking.

In 1937, Bruno married his second wife who produced a second son, Giorgio. But the spread of the 'Ndrangheta across Queensland soon grew out of control and by the mid 1930s the Queensland Government had introduced tough measures that drove mafia activities south towards Sydney and Melbourne.

Rise of the Modafferi 'Ndrina
Bruno and Tolio's crime syndicate moved to Sydney where they started to enforce their mark using standover and protection rackets on Italian run businesses. However, the outbreak of WWII brought an end to much of 'Ndrangheta activities. When Italy joined Nazi Germany, Bruno and Tolio found themselves interned in the Cowra concentration camp until 1944 when they were released to work in an armaments factory in Lithgow. Here Bruno witnessed guns being produced at such a massive rate that he took the opportunity to skim a couple of guns off each shipment bound for the war effort in the Pacific. Bruno stored the stolen guns in an old mine just outside Lithgow until after the war when he knew that the crime wave would once again start with the returning soldiers.

In 1951, Bruno and Tolio travelled to San Luca where they officially sought permission from the locale of San Luca, (a Calabrian mafia requirement for every new clan or locale to obtain its authorization to operate). The locale, knowing the Modafferi name, were happy to grant permission and so the Modafferi 'ndrina was born.

Bruno's second wife was killed in 1954 when gunmen from the rival Castino clan opened fire their car. Bruno was shot multiple times in the stomach and chest but his wife was shot once directly through the eye, killing her instantly.

Personality
Bruno is a calm and collected man with a warm open heart toward those around him. He loves a laugh and is happy to tell people how it is. He holds a great deal of respect to Jackie Carpenter and admires Thomas Morello as the loyal soldier he is.