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'God's banker' murder: 4 charged
 Four people have been indicted on murder charges in the death of Italian financier Roberto Calvi, a banker with close ties to the Vatican who was found hanging under a bridge in London in 1982, a defense attorney said. Businessman Flavio Carboni;
| Ahah! The ruthless and corrupt businessman! I saw this on ABC... Or was it NBC?... Or CBS?... Or Fox... Or UPN... Or all of them... |
his ex-girlfriend Manuela Kleinszig,
| Uhuh. Cherchez la femme. A platinum blonde who wears expensive gowns that look a lot like what she'd sleep in, if she slept in anything, and carries a cigarette holder in her hand and a rod in her Gucci purse... |
and two men with alleged ties to the Mafia, Giuseppe "Pippo" Calo
and Ernesto Diotallevi,
| That'd be Big Ernie, the muscle... |
will stand trial in October, Carboni's mouthpiece lawyer said Monday. Calvi was dubbed "God's banker" because of his ties with the Vatican's bank and its former top official, the American Archbishop Paul C. Marcinkus. Calvi's body was found under a bridge in London on June 18, 1982, his suit pockets stuffed with rocks and bricks, along with a falsified passport and thousands of dollars worth of various currencies, a fish stuffed down his throat, and a look of horror on his face.
"Cardinal Linguini! Send in my consigliere!"
"Yes, Your Holiness!"
"Then go for a walk!" |
The discovery came days after the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, where he was president and in which the Vatican's bank held a significant stake. The collapse was Italy's biggest postwar banking scandal. Banco Ambrosiano fell apart following the disappearance of $1.3 billion.
| Say that slowly: "the disappearance of $1.3 billion..." That's a letter "b", y'know, the equivalent of the annual budget of a small nation or smaller federal agency... |
The Vatican's bank agreed to pay $250 million to the Italian bank's creditors, but denied any wrongdoing.
| "Nope. Wudn't us. It wuz him. And he's dead now." |
Marcinkus also denied wrongdoing.
| "Wudn't me, neither! You can search me, if you want!" |
In July 2003, Italian prosecutors issued a report concluding that Calvi did not commit suicide, but was killed.
| Yeah. Fairly elaborate for a suicide. Especially the fish stuffed in his mouth... |
Posted by: Fred 2005-04-18 |
