Editing Roberto Calvi (section)

==Banco Ambrosiano scandal==

In 1978, the [[Bank of Italy]] produced a report on [[Banco Ambrosiano]] which found that several billion [[Italian lira|lire]] had been exported illegally, leading to criminal investigations. Calvi was tried in 1981, given a four-year [[suspended sentence]], and fined US$19.8 million for transferring US$27 million out of the country in violation of Italian currency laws. He was released on [[bail]] pending appeal and kept his position at the bank. During his short spell in jail, Calvi attempted suicide. His family maintains that he was manipulated by others and was innocent of the crimes attributed to him.<ref>See: Robert Hutchison's ''Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei'', 1997{{page needed|date=June 2022}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2022}}

The controversy surrounding Calvi's dealings at Banco Ambrosiano echoed a scandal in 1974 when the [[Holy See]] lost an estimated US$30 million upon the collapse of the [[Franklin National Bank]] owned by financier [[Michele Sindona]]. Bad loans and foreign currency transactions led to the collapse of the bank. Sindona died in prison after drinking coffee laced with [[cyanide]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/23/world/michele-sindona-jailed-italian-financier-dies-cyanide-poisoning-65-center.html|title=MICHELE SINDONA, JAILED ITALIAN FINANCIER, DIES OF CYANIDE POISONING AT 65; At the Center of Scandals|date=23 March 1986|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|language=en-US|access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref>

Calvi wrote a letter of warning to [[Pope John Paul II]] on 5 June 1982, two weeks before the collapse of [[Banco Ambrosiano]], stating that such an event would "provoke a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions in which the Church will suffer the gravest damage."<ref name=tim061005>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070326231543/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article575133.ece Plea to Pope from 'God's banker' revealed as murder trial begins], The Times, 6 October 2005</ref> The correspondence confirmed that illegal transactions were common knowledge among the top affiliates of the bank and the Vatican.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2003/dec/07/italy.theobserver|title=Who killed Calvi?|last=Mathiason|first=Nick|date=6 December 2003|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref> Banco Ambrosiano collapsed in June 1982 following the discovery of debts between US$700 million and 1.5 billion. Much of the money had been transferred through the [[Vatican Bank]], which owned shares in Banco Ambrosiano.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/22/business/archbishop-marcinkus-84-banker-at-the-vatican-dies.html|title=Archbishop Marcinkus, 84, Banker at the Vatican, Dies|date=2 February 2006|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|language=en-US|access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref>

In 1984, the [[Vatican Bank]] agreed to pay US$224 million to 120 of [[Banco Ambrosiano]]'s [[creditor]]s as a "recognition of moral involvement" in the bank's collapse.<ref name=marcinkus>[https://archive.today/20070309063610/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2051734,00.html Obituary Archbishop Paul Marcinkus], The Times, 22 February 2006</ref> It has never been confirmed whether the Vatican Bank was directly involved in the scandal due to a lack of evidence in the [[subpoena]]ed correspondence, which only revealed that Calvi consistently supported the Vatican's religious agenda. Calvi committed the crime of fiscal misconduct, and there was no evidence of church involvement otherwise, so the Vatican Bank was granted [[immunity (law)|immunity]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.europeanceo.com/finance/the-banco-ambrosiano-affair-what-happened-to-roberto-calvi/|title=The Banco Ambrosiano affair: what happened to Roberto Calvi?|date=20 March 2014|language=en-US|access-date=4 September 2016|archive-date=16 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916112710/http://www.europeanceo.com/finance/the-banco-ambrosiano-affair-what-happened-to-roberto-calvi/|url-status=dead}}</ref>