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The father of Nigella Lawson's former assistants has been arrested in Italy - accused of being
a member of the mafia.
Michele Grillo, whose daughters Elisabetta and Francesca worked for the TV chef, is suspected
of taking part in drug dealing and extortion.
He was one of ten people arrested in the Milan area after a long investigation into the activities
of of the Barbaro-Papalia mafia clan.
His two daughters were cleared recently of fraud, spending £685,000 on credit cards
belonging to Nigella and her ex-husband, Charles Saatchi. During the trial, they claimed they
had been allowed to spend what they liked if they kept quiet about Nigella's drug taking.
Their father, a truck driver by trade, is accused of selling drugs, including ***
and hashish, and of extortion - threatening a petrol station owner to blackmail him out
of 85,000 euros.