Word: vatican
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Calvi acquisition: his purchase of 40% interest in Italy's 73-year-old Rizzoli publishing company and with it a piece of the Milan-based Corriere della Sera, Italy's largest, most respected daily newspaper. Businessmen who were already uneasy about Calvi's connections with the Vatican feared that he might turn the independent Corriere to his own purposes, perhaps to punish his enemies with unfavorable coverage or commentary. Some Italians believe that Calvi's growing power led influential businessmen and public officials to begin to push for his downfall...
...rose. He was named president of Banco Ambrosiano, and acquired more and more companies. The press dubbed the publicity-shy Calvi "God's banker" for his ties to the I.O.R. He became known as the man who had taken over the disgraced Sindona's role as the Vatican's lay financial partner...
...when the Bank of Italy conducted an extensive audit of his financial empire. The examiners noted unorthodox operations and complained that Ambrosiano affiliates were carrying out "all types of operations outside of controls." Ominously enough, the investigators also noted that they could not separate Ambrosiano holdings from Vatican holdings because of the complex interlocking relationships between them...
...Barely a month 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. supplied Calvi with "letters of patronage" (called comfort letters by bankers), documents stating that the shell companies were controlled, either directly or indirectly, by the 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...