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Roberto Calvi

Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano of Milan, found dead in London in June 1982.

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Dates
until Jun 1982

Calvi was president of Banco Ambrosiano when it failed in 1982. He was found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge on 18 June 1982. Whether he was murdered has been before British and Italian courts; see Inquests into the death of Roberto Calvi and Trial for the murder of Roberto Calvi.

Connections 11

chair of

member of

  • Propaganda Due (P2) Scholarship & press 12

    His name is on the list seized at Gelli's offices in 1981. The parliamentary report treats whether each name on the list is exact as a separate question from whether the list is genuine.

involved in

  • Collapse of Banco Ambrosiano chairman; convicted of illegal export of capital in July 1981, released pending appeal Scholarship & press 1
  • Trial for the murder of Roberto Calvi the 2007 court's reasons, as Reuters reported them Scholarship & press 3

    Reuters, November 2007: the court released its reasons for the June 2007 acquittals and cited a lack of evidence against the accused.

  • Death of Roberto Calvi a popular reading: Blackfriars, and P2 members calling each other "friar"; no court found this Scholarship & press 1

    TIME reported the reading as what "some Italians" saw. Reuters (2007) says prosecutors argued the staging suggested "Mafia or Masonic ritual". Neither court found who staged anything.

  • Death of Roberto Calvi found dead Scholarship & press 1

    Reports differ on the details: other accounts give about $14,000 and five bricks.

  • Death of Roberto Calvi fled Italy on a false passport via Austria to London Scholarship & press 1
  • Death of Roberto Calvi attempted suicide during a short spell in jail in 1981, according to a BBC News text Scholarship & press 4

    Reported in a BBC News text; no court or inquest source read confirms it.

  • Death of Roberto Calvi October 2002: experts appointed by Italian judges concluded he was murdered (an expert finding, not a court's) Scholarship & press 4
  • Death of Roberto Calvi British police reopened the case in 2003, the Los Angeles Times reported Scholarship & press 5

    The City of London Police's own statement was not read.

  • Seizure of the P2 lists at Castiglion Fibocchi name on the list Scholarship & press 1
Timeline 1 date
  1. until Jun 1982 Roberto Calvi
Proof 5 sources
  1. Italy: The Great Vatican Bank Mystery (8 pages), TIME, 13 Sep 1982. Scholarship & press Archived copy
    He was named president of Banco Ambrosiano, and acquired more and more companies.
    Calvi began spinning his web in 1971, shortly after he became director-general of Banco Ambrosiano.
    Police found Calvi's name, along with those of other prominent Italian and South American politicians, military officers and businessmen (including Sindona), on the secret membership list.
    Calvi was found guilty in July 1981, fined a total of $11.7 million and sentenced to four years in jail.
    Though he had been convicted of a financial crime, Calvi was still made welcome at the Vatican bank and other banks.
    But some Italians saw sinister significance in the fact that he was dangling from Blackfriars Bridge: members of P2 dress in black and address each other as "friar."
    The dead man's pockets contained some $13,000 in various currencies, as well as 12 lbs. of bricks and stones.
    Calvi fled Italy with a false passport, flying first to Austria, then to England.
  2. Licio Gelli, dalla strage di Bologna al crac del Banco Ambrosiano: le inchieste che hanno coinvolto il Venerabile della P2, Il Fatto Quotidiano, 16 Dec 2015. Scholarship & press
    dall’istituto di Roberto Calvi (tessera n.519 della P2)
  3. Mafia ordered God's banker murder (Reuters), Reuters (via NZ Herald), Nov 2007. Scholarship & press
    It's more credible that the killing of Roberto Calvi was decided as a punishment and to prevent him from revealing his relations with people who acted as a link to the criminal organisation
    In its explanation, the court said prosecutors had relied on circumstantial evidence from witnesses who were now dead, some of them killed.
    Similar operations can be considered compatible with the mentality of mafiosi and have similar precedents in the criminal history of the Cosa Nostra
  4. 1982 'God's banker' found hanged (BBC News text, "Courtesy BBC News"), Macau Daily Times (BBC News text). Scholarship & press
    During his short spell in jail he attempted suicide.
    In October 2002 forensic experts appointed by Italian judges concluded that the banker had been murdered.
    They said his neck showed no evidence of the injuries usually associated with death by hanging and his hands had never touched the stones found in the pockets of his clothes.
  5. Former Vatican bank chief Paul Marcinkus, 84, dies, The Seattle Times (Los Angeles Times), 22 Feb 2006. Scholarship & press
    British police reopened the case in 2003.
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