of 20 May 1981 the magistrates’ inquiries came to fruition when officers from the finance police descended on the Calvis’ seventh-floor apartment in Via Frua. The chairman of Italy’s largest private bank answered the door in his pyjamas to be informed that he was under arrest and would be escorted to prison in the nearby town of Lodi.
In 1976 the Christian Democrat government of Giulio Andreotti had tightened restrictions on the export of currency from Italy, increasing the penalty for offenders to a maximum of six years’ imprisonment. The Communist party was growing in electoral strength, the economy was stuttering and a safe financial haven abroad was more attractive than ever for the rich. An institution like the Banco Ambrosiano was an ideal conduit for the flight of capital, with a flexible approach to the rules, a subsidiary – the Banca del Gottardo – in Lugano, and close ties to the Vatican bank, an offshore haven conveniently located in the heart of Rome. One of the techniques Calvi had used to send money abroad was to juggle shares in the Toro insurance company between his offshore dummy companies. The result of the exercise, carried out in the early 1970s, had been to grossly inflate the value of the shares and deposit more than 23 billion lire outside Italy’s national borders.
Exactly two months after his arrest Calvi was found guilty of illegal currency export and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and a fine of 16 billion lire (more than $10 million). Theguilty verdict would make it more difficult for the Ambrosiano to raise cash on international money markets. Released from prison pending an appeal, Calvi suffered the indignity of again having his passport withdrawn by Milan magistrates, meaning he was unable to show his face at international bankers’ gatherings and, more importantly, to continue his hands-on management of his secret offshore financial network.
But what had happened while Calvi was in prison would turn out to be even more destructive. Though not a man with a particular taste for luxury, he was accustomed to living in an exquisitely furnished apartment and being waited on by deferential staff. In Lodi prison he had been treated with humiliating familiarity by the guards and terrorized by his fellow inmates; for the first time he was exposed to uncomfortably close and prolonged contact with the exponents of organized crime – the men whose bosses were allegedly recycling their ill-gotten wealth through the Banco Ambrosiano. An intensely private person, he was traumatized by having to share a cell with two of his fellow defendants. Visitors found him nervous and irritable because he was unable to sleep properly in the presence of strangers. Raffaele Cutolo, boss of the criminal Camorra organization, claims he intervened to protect Calvi from bullying, writing to associates in Lodi prison urging them to keep a protective eye on him.
After seven weeks in prison Calvi had begun to show signs of cracking under the strain. On the morning of 9 July his cell mates woke to find he had attempted suicide, swallowing an overdose of sleeping pills and slashing his right wrist; for Calvi was left-handed. The cut was superficial, however, and he was soon out of danger, after having his stomach pumped. More dangerous for his long-term survival was what he had done a week earlier. On 2 July Calvi had informed the magistrates working on his case that he was ready to cooperate with them. Three magistrates arrived at Lodi at 10 p.m. and continued questioning him until three in the morning. Among the topicsCalvi said he was willing to discuss were the role of the P2 lodge, his relations with the Vatican and his illegal funding of the Italian Socialist party (PSI). In exchange, he explained, he would like to be released from jail. The magistrates took his testimony but declined to release him.
One of the sensitive topics the troubled banker had touched on was his relationship with Umberto
In 1976 the Christian Democrat government of Giulio Andreotti had tightened restrictions on the export of currency from Italy, increasing the penalty for offenders to a maximum of six years’ imprisonment. The Communist party was growing in electoral strength, the economy was stuttering and a safe financial haven abroad was more attractive than ever for the rich. An institution like the Banco Ambrosiano was an ideal conduit for the flight of capital, with a flexible approach to the rules, a subsidiary – the Banca del Gottardo – in Lugano, and close ties to the Vatican bank, an offshore haven conveniently located in the heart of Rome. One of the techniques Calvi had used to send money abroad was to juggle shares in the Toro insurance company between his offshore dummy companies. The result of the exercise, carried out in the early 1970s, had been to grossly inflate the value of the shares and deposit more than 23 billion lire outside Italy’s national borders.
Exactly two months after his arrest Calvi was found guilty of illegal currency export and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and a fine of 16 billion lire (more than $10 million). Theguilty verdict would make it more difficult for the Ambrosiano to raise cash on international money markets. Released from prison pending an appeal, Calvi suffered the indignity of again having his passport withdrawn by Milan magistrates, meaning he was unable to show his face at international bankers’ gatherings and, more importantly, to continue his hands-on management of his secret offshore financial network.
But what had happened while Calvi was in prison would turn out to be even more destructive. Though not a man with a particular taste for luxury, he was accustomed to living in an exquisitely furnished apartment and being waited on by deferential staff. In Lodi prison he had been treated with humiliating familiarity by the guards and terrorized by his fellow inmates; for the first time he was exposed to uncomfortably close and prolonged contact with the exponents of organized crime – the men whose bosses were allegedly recycling their ill-gotten wealth through the Banco Ambrosiano. An intensely private person, he was traumatized by having to share a cell with two of his fellow defendants. Visitors found him nervous and irritable because he was unable to sleep properly in the presence of strangers. Raffaele Cutolo, boss of the criminal Camorra organization, claims he intervened to protect Calvi from bullying, writing to associates in Lodi prison urging them to keep a protective eye on him.
After seven weeks in prison Calvi had begun to show signs of cracking under the strain. On the morning of 9 July his cell mates woke to find he had attempted suicide, swallowing an overdose of sleeping pills and slashing his right wrist; for Calvi was left-handed. The cut was superficial, however, and he was soon out of danger, after having his stomach pumped. More dangerous for his long-term survival was what he had done a week earlier. On 2 July Calvi had informed the magistrates working on his case that he was ready to cooperate with them. Three magistrates arrived at Lodi at 10 p.m. and continued questioning him until three in the morning. Among the topicsCalvi said he was willing to discuss were the role of the P2 lodge, his relations with the Vatican and his illegal funding of the Italian Socialist party (PSI). In exchange, he explained, he would like to be released from jail. The magistrates took his testimony but declined to release him.
One of the sensitive topics the troubled banker had touched on was his relationship with Umberto
Similar Books
