Death of bank chief remains a riddle

Press, 5 July 1983, Page 11

Death of bank chief remains a riddle

By

CLARE FALLON,

of

Reuter (through NZPA) London A year after “God’s banker,” Roberto Calvi was found hanging from a London bridge his death remains a mystery despite two inquests and exhaustive investigations into his ties with the Vatican. The verdict of the first inquest — that Mr Calvi, who was 62, had killed himself — was quashed after an appeal by his family, who have always alleged that he had been murdered. Last week the second inquest jury, unable to decide how he met his death, opted for an open verdict and left the riddle unsolved. The new verdict clears the way for Mr Calvi’s family to collect up to $3 million in insurance money, denied them by the previous verdict of suicide.

The jury had heard that Mr Calvi was afraid he would be killed by people wanting to stop a huge deal with a Catholic lay group, which would have saved the now-liquidated Banco Ambrosiano, of which he was president. Mr Calvi fled to London while on bail pending appeal against a prison sentence and fine for currency smuggling. He died three days before the appeal was due to be heard in Italy. The mystery of his death began in the early morning of June 18 last year when a

young newspaper clerk on his way to work spotted Mr Calvi’s body hanging from Blackfriars Bridge over the River Thames.

He was suspended by a one-metre length of orange rope tied to scaffolding. The pockets of his light grey suit were filled with lumps of stone and a half brick had been stuffed down his trousers.

On his body the police found a passort, on which his name had been altered to Calvini, two watches, three pairs of spectacles, and a wallat containing more than $ll,OOO in various currencies.

A autopsy revealed no signs of violence except two deep rope marks on his neck. Death had been caused by asphyxiation by hanging, a pathologist said. The first verdict, suicide, was doubted in Italy, where the press speculated that Mr Calvi had been murdered to prevent his naming in court influential fellow members of a secret, scan-dal-ridden Masonic lodge called P2 (Propaganda Two). The British police said that they had not found any evidence that Mr Calvi was murdered, and an eminent pathologist, Dr Keith Simpson, suggested that the death had been caused by “self-suspension.” Mr Calvi had been smuggled out of Italy and flown into London’s Gatwick

airport in a private plane three days before he was found dead, the inquest heard.

He had fled Italy because he feared that he would be killed to prevent his closing a deal with the Catholic Opus Dei group to repay $1.4 billion owed by his bank, his daughter, Anna, aged 21, told the inquest.

Banco Ambrosiano, Italy’s biggest had lent the money in Latin America on the strenth of letters of patronage from the Vatican bank, she said. The Vatican had since refused to take responsibility for the loans. . Mr Calvi’s widow, Clara, said that her husband planned to name top people at the Vatican and in P2 in his appeal against a fouryear sentence for currency smuggling if he could not clinch the deal. Mr Calvi sent Clara to the United States, where their son, Carlo, lived, and Anna to Switzerland before leaving Italy. His flight to London was arranged by a business associate, Flavio Carboni. Mr Carboni, who did not attend the inquest, is in prison in Italy facing charges of attempting to murder Banco Ambrosiano’s vice-presi-dent, Roberto Rosone. A friend, Silvano Vittor, found Mr Calvi a small flat in London. He told the hearing that Mr Calvi had behaved oddly and was agitated on the eve of his

death. He had appeared in the morning with his moustache shaved off, Mr Vittor said. “I found him a little strange, his mental condition changed very much from the previous day,” he told the inquest. Mr Calvi went to Hyde Park in central London to meet Mr Carboni, but they had talked only about finding a bigger flat, Mr Vittor said.

That evening Mr Vittor had gone out, leaving Mr Calvi alone in the flat. When he had returned after midnight he found the place deserted. The television set was on, but the screen was blank. Six hours later, Mr Calvi was found dead.

British newspapers speculated that Mr Calvi’s death had been a ritual murder by P2 after Mr Calvi had become entangled in secret Vatican plans to divert $l2 million from his bank to the banned Polish trade union, Solidarity. They linked the spot where he died — Blackfriars’ Bridge — with the Masonic movement. Black was the colour P2 members wore, friar the name they used to address each other, and the bricks in Mr Calvi’s pockets had a link with masonry, they said. The open verdict means that the police will not close the file on Roberto Calvi. For the moment, at least, the riddle remains unsolved.