VIDEO: The Most Dangerous Families in the World

We all know about history’s evil families like the Ku Klux Klan.

But there are many more you probably never knew about.

This video presents the ten most dangerous families in history.

According to Wikipedia, the Genovese crime family is one of the “Five Families” that dominate organized crime activities in New York City as part of the Mafia (or La Cosa Nostra). The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the “Ivy League” and “Rolls Royce” of organized crime.

They are rivaled in size only by the Gambino crime family and are unmatched in terms of power. They have generally maintained a varying degree of influence over many of the smaller mob families outside New York, including ties with the Philadelphia, Patriarca, and Buffalo crime families.

The Genovese crime family is the largest of the “Five Families”. Finding new ways to make money in the 21st century, the Genovese family took advantage of lax due diligence by banks during the housing spike with a wave of mortgage frauds.

Prosecutors say loan shark victims obtained home equity loans to pay off debts to their mob bankers. The family found ways to use new technology to improve on illegal gambling, with customers placing bets through offshore sites via the Internet.

It is the oldest of the Five Families, with roots going back to the Morello crime family. The current “family” was founded by Charles “Lucky” Luciano, and was known as the “Luciano crime family” from 1931 to 1957, when it was renamed after boss Vito Genovese.

Although the leadership of the Genovese family seemed to have been in limbo after the death of Gigante in 2005, they appear to be the most organized family and remain powerful.

Unique in today’s Mafia, the family has benefited greatly from members following the code of Omertà. While many mobsters from across the country have testified against their crime families since the 1980s, the Genovese family has only had seven members turn state’s evidence in its history.

The Genovese crime family originated from the Morello gang of East Harlem, the first Mafia family in New York City. In 1892, Giuseppe Morello arrived in New York from the village of Corleone, Sicily.

Morello’s half brothers Nicholas, Vincenzo, Ciro and the rest of his family joined him in New York the following year. The Morello brothers formed the 107th Street Mob and began dominating the Italian neighborhood of East Harlem, parts of Manhattan, and the Bronx.

One of Giuseppe Morello’s strongest allies was Ignazio “the Wolf” Lupo, a mobster who controlled Little Italy, Manhattan. In 1903, Lupo married Morello’s half sister, uniting both organizations.

The Morello-Lupo alliance continued to prosper in 1903, when the group began a major counterfeiting ring with powerful Sicilian Mafioso Don Vito Cascio Ferro, printing $5 bills in Sicily and smuggling them into the United States.

New York City Police detective Joseph Petrosino began investigating the Morello family’s counterfeiting operation, the barrel murders and the black hand extortion letters. On November 15, 1909 Giuseppe Morello, Ignazio Lupo and others were arrested on counterfeiting charges. In February 1910, Morello and Lupo were sentenced to 30 years in prison.