The Cheda Family
| |
|---|---|
| Motto (in Latin) - in English |
Frateris manus in mano Brothers, hand in hand. |
| Formed | 5th July 1947 |
| Declared illegal organisation by the Pacitalian government | 11th August 1956 (Organised Crime and Illicit Activities Act - 0879 K70 R93 8/1956) |
| Declared illegal organisation by the Canadian government | 20th November 1987 (Organized Crime Act of 1986) |
| Don | Giovanni Aldo Samantino Bracchano Cheda |
| Consigliere | Fenicio Toranzo Cheda |
| Base of operations | Sambuca, Pacitalia |
| Extent of operations | |
| Estimated worth Total (NSD) Percent of: - legitimate GDP - Of black-market GDP |
$1,179,585,000,000 0.049% 42.814% |
| Major known activities |
|
| Political ties | None known |
| Languages of operation | Pacitalian, English, Spanish |
The Cheda family (Pacitalian: Confraternano Famigliati di Mafiosi Cheda), pronounced kay-duh, is the most influential mafia organisation originating in the Democratic Capitalist Republic of Pacitalia. The family, once religiously restricting membership to bloodline and the male sex, has grown to include so-called statt'observati (observer status) members that may be of either sex, in addition to any race, religion and creed, so long as they are proven to fully share the goals, aims and principles of the family. Currently, the family operates in Pacitalia and the Federal Republic of Canada, and to a lesser extent in favourable environments such as those provided in Roach-Busters and MassPwnage.
Early history
First established in 1947 as an organisation to defend native Pacitalians against the throes of mass immigration of Greek, Romanian and Spanish ethnicities, among others, the Cheda family had humble beginnings, reportedly operating out of the backrooms of the shops of sympathetic or like-minded business owners in Sambuca and Fomanunta, the two largest cities in Sambuca province, Pacitalia. The government of Rabastano Pietro Grazzo was completely unaware because of this crafty, unofficial and compartmentalised form of existence, but a "mysterious organisation" soon found its way onto the front page of national newspapers after numerous suspicious killings of top Spanish Catholic figures, such as the influential and popular Sambuca bishop Luis Reynardo Balca in March 1949.
After Balca's killing there was enormous outrage among the Spanish community in Sambuca, and to a lesser extent, the entire country. The community urged the Pacitalian government to do something about it, and with Grazzo's Pacifist government being supported by a grand portion of the Spanish community, the prime minister had no choice but to act. He publicly announced, in September 1949, the creation of a Government Committee to Investigate Racially Motivated Criminal Acts, which would work in coordination with the newly-created Pacitalian Central Intelligence Commission to investigate hate crimes against minority groups in Pacitalia. By 1951 the agency and committee's joint studies found it was clear there was an element of organised crime responsible for the acts, especially the killing of Balca. The PCIC was able to corroborate evidence from the over 150 killings of prominent Spanish- and Greek-Pacitalians, with secondary evidence about organised crime families and that which they had learned about the Cheda family. On 1st April 1952, the PCIC formally notified Prime Minister Grazzo they would be seeking legal channels to implicate the Cheda family as responsible. However, they made clear they would do so only after they finalised their evidence, a process that took about six months to complete.
Meanwhile, after just five years of existence, the Cheda family was finding their bloodline policy difficult to maintain. The first don, Luciano Ruggiero Cheda, was showing signs of failing health in mid-1952 and there were no apparent capable successors to the proverbial throne. Cheda died at home of cancer in late August, and was temporarily replaced by his son, Abranzo. By this point the Cheda family was already worth an estimated NS$25 billion (in 2006 dollars), their wealth cleverly distributed over a series of private, Swiss-style banking accounts across the country and in a secret subterranean vault (the builders of the vault were killed immediately after to ensure the secrecy of its location). The Cheda family soon abandoned their "blood is the best insurance" policy and began scoping out cross-country for talents that shared their goals and beliefs. However, that was not the only policy that metamorphosised. Soon, the Cheda family saw an opportunity in other areas of business that provided more funds than just being petty hitmen for hate crimes, and it was that move that opened up their existence, first to the government, and then to the world.
