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The Arts Intel Report

God's Banker

Where do the Sicilian Mafia, the Vatican, and a secret far-right society intersect? In a man named Roberto Calvi, who was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982—an apparent suicide. Forty years later, however, a lawyer named Nicolo Majnoni received a tip that implied there was far more to the story. In a new podcast, Majnoni reopens the case of Calvi, an Italian banker dubbed “God’s Banker” for his close dealings with the Vatican. Accused in 1982 of conducting $50 million worth of illegal foreign transactions, Calvi, after sending an ominous warning note directly to Pope John Paul II, fled the country with a briefcase full of incriminating documents—and a mafia associate at his side. A week later, he was dead—and Majnoni just might know who killed him. —Paulina Prosnitz

Photo courtesy of Campside Media