Person
Michele Sindona
Italian financier, convicted in the United States and in Italy; died in prison in 1986.
- Dates
- until 22 Mar 1986
United States v. Sindona
- Convicted by New York City: U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York: fraud in connection with the collapse of Franklin National Bank (65 of 69 counts; the Court of Appeals affirmed on all counts) 123
Murder of Giorgio Ambrosoli
- Convicted by Milan: life imprisonment for ordering the murder of Giorgio Ambrosoli 45English summary: Il Post says he was sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 March 1986. UPI: a Milan court convicted him of paying American gangster William Arico $50,000 to murder Giorgio Ambrosoli in July 1979 (Il Post gives other sums). First instance only.
Sindona was a financier who advised the Vatican in the 1960s. TIME reported in 1982 that he introduced Roberto Calvi to Paul Marcinkus in 1971. He was convicted in New York in 1980 and in Milan in 1986, and died in an Italian prison on 22 March 1986.
Connections 7
convicted by
- New York City 1980 U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York: fraud in connection with the collapse of Franklin National Bank (65 of 69 counts; the Court of Appeals affirmed on all counts) Primary record 123
-
Milan
18 Mar 1986
life imprisonment for ordering the murder of Giorgio Ambrosoli
Scholarship & press
45
English summary: Il Post says he was sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 March 1986. UPI: a Milan court convicted him of paying American gangster William Arico $50,000 to murder Giorgio Ambrosoli in July 1979 (Il Post gives other sums). First instance only.
owns a stake in
-
Banca Privata Italiana
Scholarship & press
2
TIME, 1982, calls it "his" bank.
involved in
- Collapse of Banco Ambrosiano TIME's account of who first guided Calvi Scholarship & press 2
-
Murder of Giorgio Ambrosoli
convicted at first instance in 1986 of paying a hired killer to murder Ambrosoli; the sum is as UPI reported it
Scholarship & press
456
Sindona was convicted at first instance; he died before any appeal. UPI reports the Vatican lost an unofficially estimated $46 to $200 million in Sindona's enterprises; nothing read links the IOR to the murder. English summary of Il Post: Ambrosoli did not yield to pressure, which turned into death threats.
- Murder of Giorgio Ambrosoli died on 22 March 1986 after swallowing cyanide in his prison cell; officials could not say whether suicide or murder Scholarship & press 4
-
Murder of Giorgio Ambrosoli
his death: investigators recorded suicide (Il Manifesto, 2003); ANSA writes that he was killed
Scholarship & press
567
English summary: Il Manifesto (2003) says the judicial papers on the inquiry after his death hold no trace of a political murder, that investigators recorded the poisoning as suicide, and that the authors Simoni and Turone back suicide; Il Post says his death is regarded as suicide. ANSA (2015) writes that he was killed in jail by a poisoned coffee. No court judgment on the cause was read.
Timeline 3 dates
- 1980 Michele Sindona convicted by New York City
- 18 Mar 1986 Michele Sindona convicted by Milan
- until 22 Mar 1986 Michele Sindona
Proof 7 sources
-
United States v. Sindona, 636 F.2d 792 (2d Cir. 1980), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (text via Leagle), 18 Dec 1980.
Primary record
a jury which found him guilty on 65 counts of a 69 count indictment. The conviction followed a nine week trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Thomas P. Griesa, Judge).
-
Italy: The Great Vatican Bank Mystery (8 pages), TIME, 13 Sep 1982.
Scholarship & press
Archived copy
A onetime Italian financier and Vatican financial adviser, he is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud in connection with the 1974 collapse of New York's Franklin National Bank
As Sindona's fortunes fell (his Banca Privata Italiana collapsed in 1974
The Vergil who first guided Calvi through the descending circles of these and other transactions was Michele Sindona.
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Sindona guilty of bank fraud, TIME, 7 Apr 1980.
Scholarship & press
Archived copy
In 1972 Sindona purchased controlling interest in Long Island's Franklin National Bank, the 20th largest in the U.S. Two years later, Franklin National collapsed, the biggest bank failure in U.S. history
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Michele Sindona, mastermind of the biggest bank failure in..., UPI, 22 Mar 1986.
Scholarship & press
Archived copy
On Tuesday, a Milan court had sentenced him to life imprisonment after Sindona was convicted of paying American gangster William Arico $50,000 to murder Milan lawyer Giorgio Ambrosoli in July 1979.
Sindona was convicted of paying American gangster William Arico $50,000 to murder Milan lawyer Giorgio Ambrosoli in July 1979.
The Vatican poured money into Sindona's financial enterprises, eventually losing a sum unofficially estimated at between $46 million and $200 million.
The gray-haired financial wizard, once called 'the most successful Italian since Mussolini,' swallowed the cyanide Thursday morning while drinking a cup of coffee.
Officials said it was still not clear whether Sindona killed himself or was murdered.
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Chi era Michele Sindona, Il Post, 2 Dec 2014.
Scholarship & press
il 18 marzo 1986 venne condannato all’ergastolo
Ambrosoli non cedette alle pressioni, che diventarono in fretta minacce di morte.
la sua morte viene considerata un suicidio
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Il mistero Sindona (Il Manifesto archive), il manifesto, 2003.
Scholarship & press
in primo grado
l'avvelenamento venne rubricato dagli inquirenti come suicidio
Anche di recente Gianni Simoni e Giuliano Turone, i due autori di libro sul banchiere titolato Il caffè di Sindona, sposano la tesi del suicidio.
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Calvi case shd be closed - prosecutors, ANSA, 7 Jul 2015.
Scholarship & press
Michele Sindona - killed in jail by a poisoned cup of coffee in 1986
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- Add 55 stories, each checked against its sources96e92fe6
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