Banco Ambrosiano
Encyclopedia
Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian
bank which collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi
and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge
Propaganda Due
(aka P2). Vatican Bank
was Banco Ambrosiano's main shareholder, and the death of Pope John Paul I
in 1978 is rumored to be linked to the Ambrosiano scandal, giving one of the subplots of The Godfather Part III
. Vatican Bank was also accused of funneling covert United States funds to Solidarity and the Contras
through Banco Ambrosiano.
in 1896 by Giuseppe Tovini, a Catholic advocate in Valle Camonica, and was named after Saint Ambrose, the fourth century archbishop
of the city. Tovini's purpose was to create a Catholic bank as a counter-balance to Italy's "lay" banks, and its goals were "serving moral organisations, pious works, and religious bodies set up for charitable aims." The bank came to be known as the "priests' bank"; one chairman was Franco Ratti, nephew to Pope Pius XI
. In the 1960s, the bank began to expand its business, opening a holding company in Luxembourg
in 1963 which came to be known as Banco Ambrosiano Holding. This was under the direction of Carlo Canesi, then a senior manager, and from 1965 chairman.
In 1967, Canesi brought Roberto Calvi
into Ambrosiano. In 1971, Calvi became general manager, and in 1975 he was appointed chairman. Calvi expanded Ambrosiano's interests further; these included creating a number of off-shore companies in the Bahamas and South America; a controlling interest in the Banca Cattolica del Veneto; and funds for the publishing house Rizzoli
to finance the Corriere della Sera
newspaper (giving Calvi control behind the scenes for the benefit of his associates in the P2 masonic lodge
). Calvi also involved the Vatican Bank, Istituto per le Opere di Religione, in his dealings, and was close to Bishop Paul Marcinkus
, the bank's chairman. Ambrosiano also provided funds for political parties in Italy, and for both the Somoza
dictatorship in Nicaragua
and its Sandinista
opposition. There are also rumours that it provided money for Solidarity in Poland
(it has been widely alleged that the Vatican Bank
funded Solidarity).
Calvi used his complex network of overseas banks and companies to move money out of Italy, to inflate share prices, and to secure massive unsecured loans. In 1978, the Bank of Italy
produced a report on Ambrosiano that predicted future disaster and led to criminal investigations. However, soon afterward the investigating Milanese magistrate, Alessandrini, was killed by a left-wing terrorist group, while the Bank of Italy official who superintended the inspection, Mario Sarcinelli, found himself imprisoned on charges that were later dismissed.
, and found further evidence against Roberto Calvi. Calvi was imprisoned, put on trial, and sentenced to four years in jail. However, he was released pending an appeal, and he kept his position at the bank. Other alarming developments followed: Carlo de Benedetti of Olivetti
bought into the bank and became deputy chairman, only to leave two months later after receiving Mafia
threats and lack of co-operation from Calvi. His replacement, a longtime employee named Roberto Rosone, was wounded in a mafia shooting incident. The criminal organization responsible for this shooting was the Banda della Magliana
(Magliana Gang) which had taken over Rome's underworld in the late 1970s, and has been related to various political events of the anni di piombo (years of lead).
In 1982, it was discovered that the bank could not account for $1.287 billion (equivalent to $ in present day terms). Calvi fled the country on a false passport, and Rosone arranged for the Bank of Italy
to take over. Calvi's personal secretary, Graziella Corrocher, left a note denouncing Calvi before jumping from her office window to her death. Calvi himself was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge
in London
on June 18.
During July 1982, funds to the off-shore interests were cut off, leading to their collapse, and in August the bank was replaced by the Nuovo Banco Ambrosiano
under Giovanni Bazoli. There was much argument about who should take responsibility for losses incurred by the Old Ambrosiano's off-shore companies, and the Vatican
eventually agreed to pay out a substantial sum without accepting liability.
In April 1992, Carlo De Benedetti
, former deputy chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, and 32 other people were convicted of fraud by a Milan court in connection with the collapse of the bank. Benedetti was sentenced to six years and four months in prison, but the sentence was overturned in April 1998 by the Court of Cassation
.
In 1994, former Socialist Prime Minister Bettino Craxi
was indicted in the Banco Ambrosiano case, along with Licio Gelli
, head of Propaganda Due
, and former Justice minister Claudio Martelli
. In April 1998, the Court of Cassation
confirmed a 12 year sentence for Licio Gelli for the Ambrosiano crash.
, manager of transaction clearing company Clearstream
, was found dead in Corsica
, two months after Ernest Backes's dismissal from Clearstream in May 1983. Banco Ambrosiano was one of the many banks to have un-published accounts in Clearstream. Backes, formerly the third highest ranking officer of Clearstream and a primary source for Denis Robert
's book on Clearstream's scandal, Revelation$, claims he "was fired because (he) knew too much about the Ambrosiano scandal. When Soisson died, the Ambrosiano affair wasn't yet known as a scandal. (After it was revealed) I realized that Soisson and I had been at the crossroads. We moved all those transactions known later in the scandal to Lima
and other branches. Nobody even knew there was a Banco Ambrosiano branch in Lima and other South American countries." As of 2005, while the Italian justice has opened up again the investigation concerning the murder of Roberto Calvi, Ambrosiano's chairman, it has asked the support of Ernest Backes, and will investigate Gerard Soisson's death, according to Lucy Komisar
. Licio Gelli, headmaster of P2 masonic lodge, and mafioso Giuseppe "Pippo" Calò
, are being prosecuted for the assassination of Roberto Calvi.
believes that Calvi, with the assistance of P2, may have been responsible for the death of Albino Luciani, who, as Pope John Paul I
, was planning a reform of Vatican finances. This is one of many conspiracy theories about Luciani, who died of a heart attack. However, Calvi's family maintains that he was an honest man manipulated by others. Their perspective informs Robert Hutchison's 1997 book Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei. According to the magistrates who indicted Licio Gelli, P2's headmaster, and Giuseppe Calò for Calvi's murder, Gelli would have ordered his death to punish him for embezzlement of his and the mafia's money, while the mafia wanted to stop him from revealing the way Calvi helped it in money laundering
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
bank which collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...
and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
Propaganda Due
Propaganda Due
Propaganda Due , or P2, was a Masonic lodge operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy from 1945 to 1976 , and a pseudo-Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally from 1976 to...
(aka P2). Vatican Bank
Vatican Bank
The Institute for Works of Religion , commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held institute located inside Vatican City run by a professional bank CEO who reports directly to a committee of cardinals, and ultimately to the Pope...
was Banco Ambrosiano's main shareholder, and the death of Pope John Paul I
Pope John Paul I
John Paul I , born Albino Luciani, , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and as Sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent Year of Three Popes...
in 1978 is rumored to be linked to the Ambrosiano scandal, giving one of the subplots of The Godfather Part III
The Godfather Part III
The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American gangster film written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola. It completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who tries to legitimize his criminal empire...
. Vatican Bank was also accused of funneling covert United States funds to Solidarity and the Contras
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
through Banco Ambrosiano.
Members
- Franco Ratti, chairman.
- Carlo Canesi, senior manager then chairman of Banco Ambrosiano Holding starting from 1965.
- Roberto CalviRoberto CalviRoberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...
, general manager of Banco Ambrosiano since 1971, appointed chairman from 1975 to his death in June 1982. He was often referred to as "God's Banker" because of his close financial ties with the Vatican. - Paul MarcinkusPaul MarcinkusPaul Casimir Marcinkus was an American archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was best known for his tenure as President of the Vatican Bank from 1971 through 1989.-Early life:...
, president of Vatican BankVatican BankThe Institute for Works of Religion , commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held institute located inside Vatican City run by a professional bank CEO who reports directly to a committee of cardinals, and ultimately to the Pope...
(aka "Istituto per le Opere di Religione"), had been a director of Ambrosiano Overseas, based in Nassau, BahamasNassau, BahamasNassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
. - Carlo De BenedettiCarlo De BenedettiCarlo De Benedetti is an Italian industrialist, engineer and publisher. He is both an Italian and naturalized Swiss citizen....
became deputy-chairman for less than two months, after Roberto Calvi's trial. - Nuovo Banco AmbrosianoNuovo Banco AmbrosianoThe Nuovo Banco Ambrosiano was the bank replacing the Banco Ambrosiano after its collapse. In 1989 the bank merged with the Banca Cattolica del Veneto to form the Banco Ambrosiano Veneto. In 1998 the latter bank formed the Banca Intesa together with the Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde...
is under Giovanni Bazoli. - Carlos Guido Natal Coda, head of the Argentine branch of Banco Ambrosiano (Coda was the predecessor of Emilio Massera as Commander-in-Chief of the Argentine NavyArgentine NavyThe Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....
)
Before 1981
The Banco Ambrosiano was founded in MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
in 1896 by Giuseppe Tovini, a Catholic advocate in Valle Camonica, and was named after Saint Ambrose, the fourth century archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of the city. Tovini's purpose was to create a Catholic bank as a counter-balance to Italy's "lay" banks, and its goals were "serving moral organisations, pious works, and religious bodies set up for charitable aims." The bank came to be known as the "priests' bank"; one chairman was Franco Ratti, nephew to Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
. In the 1960s, the bank began to expand its business, opening a holding company in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
in 1963 which came to be known as Banco Ambrosiano Holding. This was under the direction of Carlo Canesi, then a senior manager, and from 1965 chairman.
In 1967, Canesi brought Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...
into Ambrosiano. In 1971, Calvi became general manager, and in 1975 he was appointed chairman. Calvi expanded Ambrosiano's interests further; these included creating a number of off-shore companies in the Bahamas and South America; a controlling interest in the Banca Cattolica del Veneto; and funds for the publishing house Rizzoli
RCS MediaGroup
RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. , based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, radio broadcasting, new media and digital and satellite TV...
to finance the Corriere della Sera
Corriere della Sera
The Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
newspaper (giving Calvi control behind the scenes for the benefit of his associates in the P2 masonic lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
). Calvi also involved the Vatican Bank, Istituto per le Opere di Religione, in his dealings, and was close to Bishop Paul Marcinkus
Paul Marcinkus
Paul Casimir Marcinkus was an American archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was best known for his tenure as President of the Vatican Bank from 1971 through 1989.-Early life:...
, the bank's chairman. Ambrosiano also provided funds for political parties in Italy, and for both the Somoza
Somoza
The Somoza family was an influential political dynasty who ruled Nicaragua as an hereditary dictatorship. Their influence exceeded their combined 43 years in the de facto presidency, as they were the power behind the other presidents of the time through their control of the National Guard...
dictatorship in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and its Sandinista
Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish...
opposition. There are also rumours that it provided money for Solidarity in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(it has been widely alleged that the Vatican Bank
Vatican Bank
The Institute for Works of Religion , commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held institute located inside Vatican City run by a professional bank CEO who reports directly to a committee of cardinals, and ultimately to the Pope...
funded Solidarity).
Calvi used his complex network of overseas banks and companies to move money out of Italy, to inflate share prices, and to secure massive unsecured loans. In 1978, the Bank of Italy
Banca d'Italia
Banca d'Italia is the central bank of Italy and part of the European System of Central Banks. It is located in Palazzo Koch, Roma, via Nazionale...
produced a report on Ambrosiano that predicted future disaster and led to criminal investigations. However, soon afterward the investigating Milanese magistrate, Alessandrini, was killed by a left-wing terrorist group, while the Bank of Italy official who superintended the inspection, Mario Sarcinelli, found himself imprisoned on charges that were later dismissed.
After 1981
In 1981, police raided the office of Propaganda Due masonic lodge so they could catch the Worshipful Master Licio GelliLicio Gelli
Licio Gelli is an Italian financier, chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due...
, and found further evidence against Roberto Calvi. Calvi was imprisoned, put on trial, and sentenced to four years in jail. However, he was released pending an appeal, and he kept his position at the bank. Other alarming developments followed: Carlo de Benedetti of Olivetti
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, printers and other business machines.- Founding :The company was founded as a typewriter manufacturer in 1908 in Ivrea, near Turin, by Camillo Olivetti. The firm was mainly developed by his son Adriano Olivetti...
bought into the bank and became deputy chairman, only to leave two months later after receiving Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
threats and lack of co-operation from Calvi. His replacement, a longtime employee named Roberto Rosone, was wounded in a mafia shooting incident. The criminal organization responsible for this shooting was the Banda della Magliana
Banda della Magliana
The Banda della Magliana was an Italian criminal organization based in Rome, particularly active throughout the late 1970s until the early 1990s. Given by the media, the name refers to the original neighborhood, the Magliana, of most of its members....
(Magliana Gang) which had taken over Rome's underworld in the late 1970s, and has been related to various political events of the anni di piombo (years of lead).
In 1982, it was discovered that the bank could not account for $1.287 billion (equivalent to $ in present day terms). Calvi fled the country on a false passport, and Rosone arranged for the Bank of Italy
Banca d'Italia
Banca d'Italia is the central bank of Italy and part of the European System of Central Banks. It is located in Palazzo Koch, Roma, via Nazionale...
to take over. Calvi's personal secretary, Graziella Corrocher, left a note denouncing Calvi before jumping from her office window to her death. Calvi himself was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is near the Inns of Court and Temple Church, along with Blackfriars station...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on June 18.
During July 1982, funds to the off-shore interests were cut off, leading to their collapse, and in August the bank was replaced by the Nuovo Banco Ambrosiano
Nuovo Banco Ambrosiano
The Nuovo Banco Ambrosiano was the bank replacing the Banco Ambrosiano after its collapse. In 1989 the bank merged with the Banca Cattolica del Veneto to form the Banco Ambrosiano Veneto. In 1998 the latter bank formed the Banca Intesa together with the Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde...
under Giovanni Bazoli. There was much argument about who should take responsibility for losses incurred by the Old Ambrosiano's off-shore companies, and the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
eventually agreed to pay out a substantial sum without accepting liability.
In April 1992, Carlo De Benedetti
Carlo De Benedetti
Carlo De Benedetti is an Italian industrialist, engineer and publisher. He is both an Italian and naturalized Swiss citizen....
, former deputy chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, and 32 other people were convicted of fraud by a Milan court in connection with the collapse of the bank. Benedetti was sentenced to six years and four months in prison, but the sentence was overturned in April 1998 by the Court of Cassation
Court of Cassation (Italy)
The Supreme Court of Cassation is the major court of last resort in Italy. It has its seat in the Rome Hall of Justice.The Court of Cassation exists also to “ensure the observation and the correct interpretation of law” by ensuring the same application of law in the inferior and appeal courts...
.
In 1994, former Socialist Prime Minister Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
was indicted in the Banco Ambrosiano case, along with Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli is an Italian financier, chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due...
, head of Propaganda Due
Propaganda Due
Propaganda Due , or P2, was a Masonic lodge operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy from 1945 to 1976 , and a pseudo-Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally from 1976 to...
, and former Justice minister Claudio Martelli
Claudio Martelli
Claudio Martelli is an Italian politician, and the right-hand man of Bettino Craxi, the socialist Prime Minister from 1983–1987.-Biography:Martelli was born at Gessate, in the province of Milan....
. In April 1998, the Court of Cassation
Court of Cassation (Italy)
The Supreme Court of Cassation is the major court of last resort in Italy. It has its seat in the Rome Hall of Justice.The Court of Cassation exists also to “ensure the observation and the correct interpretation of law” by ensuring the same application of law in the inferior and appeal courts...
confirmed a 12 year sentence for Licio Gelli for the Ambrosiano crash.
Clearstream scandal
Just before the media revealed the Ambrosiano scandal, Gérard SoissonGérard Soisson
Gérard Soisson was a French banker who was at the center of the Clearstream Affair. He was the person who authorized each non-published account, which would be known only by some insiders, including the auditors and members of the council of administration.Whereas Soisson had refused numerous...
, manager of transaction clearing company Clearstream
Clearstream
Clearstream Banking S.A. is the clearing and settlement division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg and Frankfurt. Clearstream was created in January 2000 through the merger of Cedel International and Deutsche Börse Clearing...
, was found dead in Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, two months after Ernest Backes's dismissal from Clearstream in May 1983. Banco Ambrosiano was one of the many banks to have un-published accounts in Clearstream. Backes, formerly the third highest ranking officer of Clearstream and a primary source for Denis Robert
Denis Robert
Denis Robert is a French freelance journalist and a writer. Robert formerly worked for Libération newspaper for 12 years....
's book on Clearstream's scandal, Revelation$, claims he "was fired because (he) knew too much about the Ambrosiano scandal. When Soisson died, the Ambrosiano affair wasn't yet known as a scandal. (After it was revealed) I realized that Soisson and I had been at the crossroads. We moved all those transactions known later in the scandal to Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
and other branches. Nobody even knew there was a Banco Ambrosiano branch in Lima and other South American countries." As of 2005, while the Italian justice has opened up again the investigation concerning the murder of Roberto Calvi, Ambrosiano's chairman, it has asked the support of Ernest Backes, and will investigate Gerard Soisson's death, according to Lucy Komisar
Lucy Komisar
Lucy Komisar is a New York City-based investigative journalist. She writes about offshore banking, corporate secrecy, international money laundering, and how they relate to corporate fraud; international corruption; the looting by dictators; financing of terrorism; international crime including...
. Licio Gelli, headmaster of P2 masonic lodge, and mafioso Giuseppe "Pippo" Calò
Giuseppe Calò
Giuseppe 'Pippo' Calò is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was referred to as the "Mafia's Cashier" because he was heavily involved in the financial side of organized crime, primarily money laundering....
, are being prosecuted for the assassination of Roberto Calvi.
Roberto Calvi's 1982 murder
Journalist David YallopDavid Yallop
David Anthony Yallop is an agnostic British author who writes chiefly about unsolved crimes. In the 1970s he also contributed scripts for a number of BBC comedy shows...
believes that Calvi, with the assistance of P2, may have been responsible for the death of Albino Luciani, who, as Pope John Paul I
Pope John Paul I
John Paul I , born Albino Luciani, , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and as Sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent Year of Three Popes...
, was planning a reform of Vatican finances. This is one of many conspiracy theories about Luciani, who died of a heart attack. However, Calvi's family maintains that he was an honest man manipulated by others. Their perspective informs Robert Hutchison's 1997 book Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei. According to the magistrates who indicted Licio Gelli, P2's headmaster, and Giuseppe Calò for Calvi's murder, Gelli would have ordered his death to punish him for embezzlement of his and the mafia's money, while the mafia wanted to stop him from revealing the way Calvi helped it in money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
.
See also
- Banda della MaglianaBanda della MaglianaThe Banda della Magliana was an Italian criminal organization based in Rome, particularly active throughout the late 1970s until the early 1990s. Given by the media, the name refers to the original neighborhood, the Magliana, of most of its members....
- The Bankers of God: The Calvi AffairThe Bankers of God: The Calvi AffairThe Bankers of God: The Calvi Affair is an Italian drama film directed in 2002 by Giuseppe Ferrara.The film tells the story of the scandal of Banco Ambrosiano, mainly related to the figure of Roberto Calvi...
- Roberto CalviRoberto CalviRoberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...