investiotion

e stands itr the hotel fayer lookinE
lost and sloDe, the [tan- who
Ei;es the lie to the belief that
dead men tell no tales. He is
Carlo Calvi, the SGyea*old son
of the infamous Milanese
I I barker Iiobeto Calvi, who was
found dead in June 1982, aged 62, hanging
beneath Blacl&iars Brjdge in London. At one
time Carlo was a succissfirl htemational
banl€r himself. Now h€ is the firll-time keeper
ofhis fatheis secrets.
He is sloall and intense, wearing clothes tbat
look as if tbey'we come fiom a larger man s
wardrobe. The leather bag he js carrying roakes
him look even slighter; the closer you get to
him, the more he seems to shrink Yet sPend
more ttran ive minutes in his quiet company
and you sense this is precisely how.he likes it
He s not out to imDrEss anvone or call attenbon
to himsell In facti on thii occasion he's in the
orocess of quiedv slippinq jn and out oflrDdon
io deal wit} wiat [i calls. withour a hint ol
imnv Gmilv business.
For more ihar two decades he s been prmunrg
iustice in his farle/s notorious case. The quest
'has
more or less cosl hirn his marriage and
about $20m ofhis funny's considerable fortune
Carlo Catvi at BLckfriars Bridge in London, where
his hthe/s bodywas lound hanging in ,| 982. Four
peopL have now be€n charged with his murder
Recent news has convinced him he may be
close to some sort of enditrg. But tbrcugh ttre
- vears be's learned caution.
On Tllesdav March 16, 2004, {our individuais
went on tdal in a Rome court chareed with the
murder ofRoberto Calvi, the rnan whose sbady
deals with the Vatican led to his being dubb€d
God s banj

COVER STORY
misguidedPoliticel"qli"d'a€mbition vanitv,,
huDeer for power, bottomless greed aad,
> time. And it's Bort of like an association ultimately-. paramia-and raw fear' Ite thread
,fi,hichexists tothis day: anasBooationHween that rsn tbrugh it ell was. a wa4)€d clesuje to
business, politics and the Mafia"
gi!'e his iam y rcsPectablity ancl secullty' DUt
dthoudl\ vou herdlv notice bis timbs in tbe it all unraveled i! an extraordimry way'
n"* "ni-tt6*" *,i "t*"es of his suil. C-a o
'Vby did tlings go so bad for your hther?'
oiu"Iydtop"iototh"-*uoationthehcthe I ask Crrlo. "B€ceuse he b€came ur€liable,"
i" "*"id"t"i o"" otC*.d^'s forcmost triath_ he sals' mekingthe adjective-sound like aqiEe
iJ""i"hi""gegroup. fr"might smileashe saF oD apar-with Eass mrrrder-.Hehas a Point In
it. but it s clearhe ia also codveyiDg amessagq the world in which his lather movect' tDBrs
do Dot undeestimate me His Gther was also erectly bovt 3erioG it wEs
a master at Eaking people miscalotate him Thebackdmp to aI this was corruPtion on a
esoeciallv his enemies i.D the hothouse world sc€le that bBs never beeD seen rn Euro-pean
;lili;bch fr"""". *d politicr' Tbat was intemationalfinence before or since' Roberto
""" "}fi. rfikl rt ** *tn ire was athis most Ca.lvi s partners in law-breaking were the
danqepus, becarue then he'd make his move. VaticanbealqtheMa6a. anlleli'ns€s€tsociety
s;-h. *id"t k"up rn ki"g noves for ever. loown as P2, andhis oun Miltn-based Baf,co
Ambrosiano. On one hand it is almost imltos-
Roberto Calvi was named bytho investig.tive sible to conv-ey the^sheer complexity ofthe
--[*b*iaiall"pi"t'i.bootr" C'oa'" tt -. scamshe pulled off: they.featured complex
as part ofa goupofricb, pou'erfirl and corrupt accourting procedures txat are stll beErg
m6n *ho could haue been bebind a plot to deciphet€d to this day- On the other hand they
murder Pope John Paul I in 1978. Yallop also allboiled dowD to tbe same thitrg: stealing lote
daimed thit Calvi's favourite book was The and [:ts ofmoney
i;odfather bv fvfatu puzo, and that he used to Whet is l@own with some certainty is tbat
uts";eopl. t" read it tike a holy text. "Then bv tbe time Roberto Cakiwenton the nm &om
""itt'*i"*u"i rtt"*.", ofthJworl4" he'd his native Itat in lg82 BetcoAmbrosienobad
iay.lhe irony was thar ialv;'s bible was pure collapsed with debts in excq,loi$.lq:ft,bss
E&oo, and fuzo hathf even met any a;tual beenalegdtl+aschairoeqcahihsdh+d
fra-rnoJi-f."nr*t t tt"tfirstin$afoe of himselfio sums running into hun&eds of
the sega" Yet, in a rwist no fictionwritercould milionsofdollars: butagei[ no.om is certain'
ever itiapate, 'prrt t .anci" Ford Coppola s frlm And ttrat is why this story-is so.a uriDg: for' 22
rf'" C.a'Aii* m *""td *d "p feat'.i"g yearsafterhis corpse was tund t'""g"g' Paflv
Roberto Calvi as a dooDed cbaraaer invotved s'rbmeaged in the fteezing1hames, secrets ar€
indarkdeedsintheVaticanwhoenrlsupba:rg- stil eEanating bit by bit' es-ifliom his grave
ing uderneath a bridge. Tt was the ultimate Roberto Calvi is relusing to be silenced
case oflife imitating art. then art imitating Me
ittfi" ary n"t"rt ca"i renains an enigma Io
u"lo"k th" ""oet of Robeto.Ce]vi
Conspiracy theorists project tbeir derk susPi- ]-you hao= to recognbe lhe
political'
"'.""'""tJni-. na.'-".i" as a human porial I economic, socieland eligious world
iltoa.ll ibat sEysteriousand clorruPt.To Carlo in whiehhe operaled. DuriDgcalvi's
Cri'iUo*"u.'r, tt " .rtfticsl Mjfa-banker I mi-titary service he- was a loyal
under the bridse is someone else entireb: his MusEolini maD, a liscist and deconted wEr
&&erThisjsa;ideofthetz.letheworldsiedia vet€m! -Bot tlat this was uaususliD Itab' Posthas
neva herrd a$thine about - until now. war, es he started his climb througlthe raaks
No. h"" ,.n"oo."h""tl "bout the busrtress ofbanks, the US wes engaged in a cold-war
ded; C"rio;ttr"ssed at close quarters. "My batde$/ithEwopesncommuistsen4viethe
Arf-."".r"t"rtittt"Uitsto*i.i-aadstoDget CIA" happily fu.n::elled cash to a vanguard of
*r.".e.; rc lrys quietty He pauses, picturig lor*tltalianLusin-escm-enwtoprilratelyasswed
"*e"" thrr"*idly ",it tt;.faceitwyol i theiI American fiieDds the coEmunisls would
''lte"was a selFmide persoD, a verv warm nel"trgetatoeholdatthecombysballotboxes
nerson. He was a sood hther. He liked to do Roberto Calvi wes part ofsucb e group His
iardenineand thinse arouDd thehouse and the power bases were the Banco Ambrosiano in
Luntwh"ouse. He'soent a lot oftime lookiry in Milan an4later' a holdiug company based in
newsdoen. But hJwas verv e.frectionate. He Luxemboug. As his son explains: "lt was a
'*".]"6 uew hard-oorkine;d dvnamic. Catholicbarh because drat was iD tbebt-lav's:
;r.."aitia"
"n* f" aofu"a bis studies, be tobeasbareholderrcquir€dr€pr€sentatiinby
**r into th" aiovbecruse he wanted to male the local prie* that youwere egood Catholic "
social contracts - and this wBs always a l.itde bit In 1929 Mussolini decreed that the Vatica!
ofa omblem with his ].ife. He alwavs warted to should be a city-state, which allowed the
ioiisocjslconnectioE. He \t€3 on tbe Rilssian churdl's badt to operate autonomoNly Tbe
ftont durinc the Second World War, and when repercussions ofthis were eNlormous: it meelt
he EturneJhe wmt to work for a banlt in t-be tbe richest church on esrth neverbad to filets
souah of Italv for a trumber ofvears. When he books, andwas allowed to opente an inde_
was hied dBanco Ambmsia;o, he gr€w in the pendentbarckingsysteruawayftomthegazeof
rar*" ard as he Erew, he made a number of ttalian b€nking insPectors. For Calvi. working
amuisitions. He tirned this Milanese baal - with Lhe Vatican b€r* wa3 obvioust atEa.tive:
uni thx wss in the Catholic area of inlluence hecoulddosowithoutatnzaingattedtionftom
alreadv. with a close relationship with the Italian authorities, yet could also enjoy the
vatica; - into the larcest private benL in Iraty. respectable ptina ofChurch pau'onage'
end riaCs wheo he Jtartid to have pmblems, The power behind the Vatics.n bank was
because he had the abitty to grow inside tle Arcbbishop Paul Marcinlus. a]€the c,orill4 a
orgs-oisation. bur he mavSt lad.ea tm .kils to six-fooFplus, l6-3tone ex-Americsn football
build aliances with other business grouPs player ftom Chicago. He larcrbecame fa:nous
within the oolitical world."
Ibraccompenying PopeJohn Paul tI abmad es
Tlis Dotted historv is predictablv
"lou
lopsided amindet andr*rasalsofrmousforstating:
with dire resnec,t to Cario. it would be hir to can t run tle churcb on Hail Marys."
sav tlat the short al}d dapper Roberto Calvi Despite his later denials, it is clear tbat from
-L- d*insworkincbouri atlesst, afrtan.ial the late sixties and early seventies MarciDkus
crook *d -e"entuallv a blacl@ailer of slmost was heavily involved with Calvi and other
ddiculous DroDottioDs. It's nowonderhewas banking cloob To givejust ooe example, the
a ch,sra4; H;rpl€'te in the last Godhthertlm Vatican banl cut a deal wiG Calvi's Banco
because ---t vou sir;pb couldnt have made him Ambro3ianointle€€rlysevmtiesqih€dittook
uo. W dtote lhi t i"dlv frtheFffgure iDio over the Catholic benk of venice. Any profrts
tliis oosition was a mjxirie of iniecurity, &om the sale went sbeight into boih men's
'Thelinks
existto
this da
between
bustness,
potitics
and the
Mafia'
cofiers. The local archbishop i! venice, one
A.lbino Luciani, was ouhageil - but could do
litde. Lster, as Pope John Paul I, he was in a
;"i'r;;$;#',ffi" ;;;;;;;;;;
late sixties and early seventies MarciD.kus was
alloved to carry on wjtb his shady deals
Tn rgm MarciDkus became embroiled with
a businessman called Micbele Sindona in g-
fiaudulent Maffa bonds scheme involviag
hundreds ofmiltons ofdollan. When the FBT
came c€lling at the vetican to ask questions,
Marcinlars denied every&ing - aad the Vaticar
backed him up. Before long Marcitrkus was
also servins on the boatd ofBsnco Ambrosiano
- and Sindona, who had links with Ue GambiDo
crime family in New York. was acting as an
informal financial adviser lo the Vatic€.n. His
setret sDecialitvwas ltunderine US rad Italian
rUafa doney t5rcugh the \htican lruk - which"
of cour:e, was beyond norrnal scmtiny
l0 THE HERALo MAGAZTNE o8.o5,oa

f,
r
If
",^s Banco Amhosiano glew and mv frther
became the chief executive, the relationship
atso srew with the top of tle Vatican bank -
whic-h was Archbishop Paul Marcinlus.
exptains Carlo Calvi. "The Vatican bank, vou
see, offered opportunities as a tax haven for
Banco Ambrcsiano-"
The Vatican banl itseu, mearnvbile, needed
Banco Ambrosiano to help give it an international
financial malket rating: becalrse it
didn't Dublish its own accoults, it couldn't
achieve t-his statrx on is own. Sometimes' Carlo
adds, the Vatican bar
oa.os.ol rue nrnaro vnoazrlt 11

COVER STORY
> New York; the other was a m€mber of the
Italiar intelligence. And they were alJ there.-at
the me€titrd witb the Vatican ambassador to Lhe
United Nations. You have the Mafia, vou have
Italirn intelliAence and the vatican, all in on€
place. lfl hadn t ti!€d that personal expcrienc,
nvser. l wor-rldn t believe it.
ihe ma]I who headed the P2 organisation
was a Ma.ia-connected businessman named
U"io C"lli, a bscist, Fiend to Nazis in Germanj
and later in South America, and general allromd
blaclmailer and gargster' P2 had abou -
2,000 membels: Gelli s agenda was to promot€
extreme righl-wing po'ver in.ltaly atrd to
enhance power arld wealG for himself On' of
hjs tavourite sayinqs w?s All balk rault doon
open to the riq[t.' The fu]l membeEhip list of
tiz was loown to ootv C,elli: ;Isomeooe stePped
t rl
out oI line Ibev would be blackmailed ard
threatened with ruin - or tllanls to his Mafia
lmks, murdet
,{
The dear advantage ofbebg a member of P2
for someone like Roberto Cslvi was access to
a network ofiifluence. Some powerful men
had been bom into this world - b|.rl calvi hadnl
ard he needed all rhe friends he could muster'
The dowaside was the constant worry that tie
r"-" 11s\ ' &ignl5 could stab him in the back
whenever it suit€d them. Carlo sawthis at close
ouarters: "The Foblem wiih P2 was tbat tley
oroyided ttris irtermediary, but they also put
ihe squeeze on thel members.
Eventuallv Boberto Calvi was tarseted. tlis
felo\r P2 m€mber Michele Sindona bad been
arrested jn Amenca on a range of charges and
was &ced with extradition to Italy, and started
ba|assroe Calvi for support and mooey asking
hr to D;t Drcssure oi de ltalian authorities
I n ,l h ca-rry oul ftc extradition. He $'as also
r^rrrious ibour whether Calvi was 6lling the
v*r,ro lefi bv his absence and dealhg witb
tb€ Vatican b'ank. To keep him on his toes,
Sindona pressured him to provide more and
mor e frrnds - meantug Calvi particiPated in
even rlore crooked deals.
Bv 1978 Roberto Calvi's schemes were
lpsinninq ro qet crazy. Sindona wss still stuck
in ih. US. anJbeean publidv threate^ing Calu
t* "ry nisir:g a pJasti:n ng of M ilaD $alls witi
uoslers hlacl@ailins hin, in a bid to ensure be
;Hll danced ro bis tune. Meanwhile marv of
Calvi's other P2 friends, seeing his gilt for
rnaking money legauy, had begrin-to demand
lheir slice of the action. His tu)ancisl reputEttoD invistisatGE
he{an to suffer - and so. to prop up his ban}t s
.inkine .hE e pric€, be cr€ared a phoney holding
cornnany which .tarted payi-ng over th" odds
lor ilnes in his institution. In effect, he was
buying himself It was the act olan increesingly
hen fate intervened. At 9.40pm on
Sunday August 6,1978, PoPe Paul\'I
di€d. Tlventv days lzlt€r, his succ€ssor
Albino Luciarli - lobn Paul I rtas
elected. This choice chilled Roberto
Llalvi. H€re was a new kind ofleader: one with
whon he'd already bad a mn-in over the sale
ofthe Venice bank.
Accordinq to author David Yalop, John Paul
I was determined to clear up the fi]Iaacial
wronsdoinss of the vatican bark. Yallop s
evidence is considerable and, ifvou buv it
Roberto calvi mav have had a hard in killing
Jobr Parn I. Eithdr way, in little nore tha, a
monih ihe new Pope was no more: he clrecl mystenouslv
on the nieht ofSeptember 28,1978.
fte n;v dissepancies in th; vatican s account
ofwho foud thi body and tbe ctcumsLances
in which it vas found have done littl€ to quell
the consDiracy theories since.
After the niw Pope's demise, the men he'd
been plarning to tue - includirg dre head of
the Vatcan banl, Paul Marcinkr,rs - stayed puti
12 rre rrnaro uaeazteoe.os.ol
t,{
{ ,l
t
I
I
I
.tv
likewise, Roberto Calvi continued with his
sbadv deals. But he was a-lready on borrowed
rime aad. despit e his powerfirl P2 6-iends. sa\
his Barro Ambrosiano raided by increesj,ogJy
susDicious police itr Milan inJanuary 1979 An
iudee and iournalist were
rnu'd.L.l, ii or[e's link;d witb Michele
Sindona's extradition fiom the US were also
killed - but the law prevailed, and soon
investiEators had linlid the Vatican s Paul
Marchkus with financial kickback &om the
Ma-ha. M ichele S bdona was found gu ilty of65
coutrts of6-aud h A.merica and was sent back
to ltalv ro face fiither cbarses there. He died
in pri;n in 1936 a-fter drtuking poisoned coffee
- the same metlrod Yallop alJeges uas used to
murder Pope John Paul I-
ln 1980, Iioberro Calvi had his passporl seiz"d
by the Ttalan aut}orities. \44thin the vear he
had been arrested on currency violrtion durges
It ln\ mor€ or l€ss &e end ot t-he road: he .ould
no longer supply eodless casb to everyone so
his useirlness was eoDer the Vatican couldn l
protect him any longer; and his P2 aad Maia
associates saw him as more ofa liabiliry *l| an
assel. He was, a5 Carlo er.?lahs. unr.Iiable: Ln
order to defend himself at the bial, he would
have had to name names." None ofhis enemies
could alow lhat lohappen, so someone, somc
q,here. took the decition to murder him.
The tull facts ofRobeto Calvis finalloumey
to his death in Jun€ 1982 will be aired at the
o-ial of tie four accused ir Rome later this year.
They are Flavio Carbone, a Sicilian busines'
man; his then girl6:iend, Manuela Kl€inszig, an
Austrian: a Rome underworld boss named
dedde5, Carto Catvi
hop€s he witt finatty
see justice done. 'We
have the opportunity
to took at the evidence;
to took frcm the basic
evidence up,' he sayg
Ernesto Diota-llevi; and a Ma.fia boss named
Pippo Calo, already sewing time in jail for other
.;mes. What is linown is that, durins his
desperate 6nal weeks, Calvi was talking rmcbar
act;risticallv looselv about how funds from
dubious sources w€re passirg *roug! equal ly
dubious Vatican ban-k accounts; he was also
trvins to {und a P2 sponsored arms buJing
oroiect in Areentina, which r.vas then battlhg
iu ur over ihe falklaid Islands. But he was
livinq on vapoun
Deispite his lack o{ a pas uft. Calvi s P2
associates arranqed for him to be taken to
"They
l-ondon on false iretences fed him all
sorts of informatibn convincing him he had to
go," says Carlo. "In Inndon they bad a criminal
base." Some of those associates accompanicd
Carlo's father to I-ondon. ard he was dumped
in a small rented room in Chelsea. IIis impov
erished surroundings must have brought hom€
to him his dire straits.
Unbeknown to him, one ofhis sccretaries
back at his banl's Milan HQ was "suicided'
'rnndon. iust hours before he himsell was murdered ir
To tJris day fcw rcalJy b"lieve tlut *ri'
woman, named Graziella Corrocher realb
Lilled hersetf by jumping out of th" banl. '
iourth_floor window
Twenty-two years later, travetting by taxi
alone th'. roulc from ChelsFa to Black-friaF
Bridse with thc murdered banher's son i' a
*obeing experience. wheo we fually arrive a
lhe dcath sclne next to r he bridge. he ctand' a.
the edse ofthe RiverThrmes a rd explains how
he fiin-k' it aI happ.ned. -l 'clicve thal he was

.LLcn and *as ldllcd in a brdding site nca.h.'.
HeNrs stf.nele.l. hc savs. "lhenhet'ast*en
\\ith u sm.ll boal lo a spol under thc brklgc li
w,rshigh tidi: urcltber limc\\'it \\1n,ld eodo\ur'
tl€ i\.as in the wnter r]P to bis chest.
'
u'hcn the fi.l. retrcakrl lhc tollovin(
nnr n;rs, Itoh(r Lo alah'i\ras slotterl by a (ljla
r lerl irN liiDs r. \11!]t Ir \\is;.iia)am onJrne
lS lll: IIc Nas lnlqn,B b! his Decl( liorn r,
ilm. rhr.e looi l( lrg n""lon n rt ). atlach{{l lodre
rrr tL sirlr ol Lhe briclqi: lvilhnr hours fla iND
rnllcr . srnmonr:d iom lilrnle. h.rd f ntili€d
l, nr:rs Lircrr lirgitile bank{rr Hjstalscp^ssport
rrn!,rl Iini as r Nlr Lliarr R1,beflo ( lrllvnn il('
.i,l iLh!.,si
'.ri. r(l{l in S!'lss 6ant q en.l ilS
d.lir,:: .nh ':'l; \'as ir ll, i[sh cun srcr flis
Irricl, Philiupe \\'fisl\rat.h had been corr ocle.l
hv th. rhr!res anrl slolrfed at 1.52am. but r!
rrock:t rvatch hail Lickcd rnrlil5 lgarn Hc had
'evenpretsof stone rocksandl,rjcls strrlTr:d
rft. his t,ockets and Iis 1r(nrsol"S.'r'hcse harl
srmk him irti) the r\,er rntilthi'ti.lc hr.lgon.
dorm. ,\ sogev addtess borrk page. nPp..l at
thc {lgcq. rn.nlidred trpical Calvi contacis: a
ro!.mrrcnt nrinisler. a baDlier'ancl sonrcon.
h,)In (hc\hhc r 'I)rr:'e $,as a1s,, aganr. in e
,rt)if.{h rnvnefloLLS (llL]!r t1\.sl a crrd.hr)m
, !.tjn(i.r, s,ili{riLor' \to. L$'o d..adcs ra(cr.
|;,i rLnr\ hf n.\1,, in.t thr l)ank.. nr his liie.
Ir lils: ( l|! lo Cllh i \\,es | :! \€aFrld liqh
r{ '.'\" I' r nr
..\ lii, l,iq ,n,nlx'r ffd srstcr: ll sc.rns tbal hi.
1aih.r: nrrcasingh a$llrr: ofLhe cnd to comc
lud slrcnlr smalln, Lltre inaknrg sulc his l,rnih
. ,r . , 1- -" r ,1,-,1,i
n.. tl". rrll"r' " '1;r'-'1' h
\\Jal(:rgatc aparhncrl comlncr. whefe thc]
'.
I| .., Irl "l," i' io'
'rr l,r'r. rr|n l,. n 'r'. nP
, . r . r t , " . 1 , . 1 i i n
hcn hr: died, ltobrto (i.ri"r lefi
dcbls ,if Si.'lnr' IloneY had
v;njshed lch,I ighr a,rd f{rntre
rlc had mademary Powertul
enemir:s. l}c choicr: ol Black
liiars llr:.lge has .ncoll ragecl sotrx Lo(onsidcr
the nossibilii\' he tras nlurdercd as a nrasonx'
Dloi " f.ooli, there :lre senLols there oD the edee
(n lhc l,ndg.i. (lanyou sc. them?' asks ilrrlo.
T (rrnless | .an t scc anvrhing lT. sniles
prtisrtlv ancl confesscs hc is atso uDccr lain
ubort thc nasonic angle. lI. isn l s re thc
\hricrn w.1s n1\olvcd in lhe dcatlr tiiher brl
hr: does 'av thal rctilcd,\fchbishop Panl
MarcirLin,s should L€ dill b,oughL to bo