Roberto Calvi

Roberto Calvi (Milan, April 13, 1920 - London, June 17, 1982) (aka Gian Roberto Calvini) was an Italian banker known to the press as "God's Banker", because of his close association with the Vatican.

Related Topics:
Milan - April 13 - 1920 - London - June 17 - 1982 - Italian - Vatican

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He fled Italy after one of the country's largest private banks, Banco Ambrosiano, went bankrupt under his chairmanship with debts (according to various sources) of between 700 million and 1.5 billion dollars. Much of the money had been siphoned off via the Vatican Bank, the Istituto per le Opere Religiose (Institute of Religious Works) or IOR.

Related Topics:
Banco Ambrosiano - Bankrupt - Vatican Bank

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His body was found with his suit stuffed with rocks and thousands of pounds worth of bank notes hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London (allegedly a masonically significant location) in June 1982. Coincidentally, Calvi was in fact an adherent of Licio Gelli's secret masonic lodge, P2. The British police treated Calvi's death as suicide, despite evidence to the contrary. An enquiry (following Calvi's exhumation) in 1992 concluded that he had been murdered. In September of 2003, City of London Police reopened their investigation as a murder inquiry.

Related Topics:
Blackfriars Bridge - 1982 - Licio Gelli - P2 - Suicide - 1992 - 2003 - City of London - Police - Murder

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In 1997, Rome prosecutors implicated a member of the Sicilian Mafia, Pippo Calò, in Calvi's murder, along with Flavio Carboni, a businessman with activities in many fields. Two other men, Ernesto Diotallevi (supposedly, leader of the "Banda della Magliana", the most dangerous Roman Mafia-like association) and Mafia banker Francesco Di Carlo, are also alleged to be involved in the killing.

Related Topics:
1997 - Rome - Mafia - Pippo Calò - Flavio Carboni - Ernesto Diotallevi - Banda della Magliana - Francesco Di Carlo

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On October 5, 2005, the trial of the five individuals charged with Calvi's muder began. These were Flavio Carboni, his ex-girlfriend Manuela Kleinzig, alleged Mafia member Giuseppe ""Pippo"" Calo, Ernesto Diotallevi, and Calvi's driver and bodyguard Silvano Vittor.

Related Topics:
October 5 - 2005

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The suspicious circumstances surrounding Calvi's death were made into a film, I banchieri di Dio - Il caso Calvi, in 2001. A heavily fictionised version of Calvi appears in the film The Godfather Part III in the character of Frederick Keinszig. This is fitting, as the original book was reportedly Calvi's favourite.

Related Topics:
2001 - The Godfather Part III

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