Word: marcinkus
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Noting the pending investigations, Marcinkus has declined to discuss the Ambrosiano affair in detail. After contacts with top Vatican officials and conversations with Marcinkus, TIME Correspondent Wilton Wynn reports that the Vatican claims its relationship with Calvi and Banco Ambrosiano involved only normal banking operations. As for Marcinkus, he is still at his Vatican bank post, expressing confidence that the storm will pass. Says he: "The old archbishop is tranquil. His conscience is clear...
...Whether Marcinkus has good reason for such tranquillity may not be immediately known. The investigation to determine just what Calvi did with the huge sums his banks borrowed and to figure out who is liable for the losses that resulted is likely to last for weeks. But the outlines of the scandal have already begun to emerge...
...Sindona introduced Calvi to Marcinkus. Sindona and Calvi hoped to use Marcinkus for their own purposes, and the bankers and the churchman obviously found it advantageous to do business together. Although the Vatican bank denies it had much to do with either Sindona or Calvi, the I.O.R. eventually became Banco Ambrosiano's fourth-largest stockholder, acquiring over the years at least 794,390 shares, or 1.589% of the bank's stock. A few months after Sindona and Calvi set up the Bahamian bank in 1971, a "Mr. Paul Marcinkus" was listed as a director. "We used his name...
...after his conviction, in fact, he asked the I.O.R.'s aid as he sought ways to help pay off the outstanding loans made by his shell companies. Though he had been convicted of a financial crime, Calvi was still made welcome at the Vatican bank and other banks. Marcinkus' defense is that he was newly reconfirmed as president of Banco Ambrosiano, and the bank's balance sheet was approved at the end of 1981 by the Bank of Italy...
...I.O.R. By issuing such letters, the Vatican bank was in effect vouching for Calvi's creditworthiness. The letters do not legally obligate the Vatican bank to pay off debts of the companies in question. But the letters do, according to some banking officials, imply a moral obligation. Marcinkus did not sign the letters, but he has taken full responsibility for them...