Fig.: a front man; someone of only nominal importance who is a cover manipulated by the real boss in the wings

The police found out that the money laundering was based on tens of bank accounts being opened on behalf of Mafia's straw men

La polizia ha scoperto che il riciclaggio di denaro sporco si basava sulla gestione di decine di conti bancari aperti da prestanome, i cosiddetti “uomini di paglia”, della Mafia

When all the details came to light in the court-case, it turned out that Mr. Jones was only a straw-man, acting under the orders of Mr. Smythe, who was the real mastermind behind the whole affair

Quando tutti i particolari sono venuti alla luce durante il processo, si è capito che Bianchi era solo un uomo di paglia che agiva per ordine di Rossi, il vero cervello di tutta la faccenda

In old times, when a contract was made, a straw would be broken and each party would take a piece as his proof. In particular, if the business was a bit fishy, the party who wanted to remain anonymous, would entrust his transaction to an unimportant person who would be derogatively called “A straw-man” as, in contrast to the grain and hay, straw is a waste product, of little value