By John Phillips in Rome

Mag­is­trates inves­ti­gat­ing the death of the Ital­ian banker Roberto Calvi under Black­fri­ars Bridge in London in 1982 are focus­ing on Licio Gelli, the for­mer “grand mas­ter” of the ille­gal P2 Masonic lodge that plot­ted against Ital­ian democ­racy in the 1970s.

Mr Gelli denies he was involved but has acknowl­edged that the financier, known as “God’s banker” because of his links with the Vat­i­can, was mur­dered. He said the killing was com­mis­sioned in Poland.

This is thought to be a ref­er­ence to Calvi’s alleged involve­ment in financ­ing the Sol­i­dar­ity trade union move­ment at the request of the late Pope John Paul II, accord­ing to the sources quoted by La Repub­blica newspaper.

Two Roman inves­ti­gat­ing mag­is­trates, Judge Maria Mon­teleone and Judge Luca Tescaroli, sent Mr Gelli a judi­cial let­ter inform­ing him that he is for­mally under inves­ti­ga­tion on charges of order­ing the mur­der along with four other peo­ple — Flavio Car­boni, a shad­owy busi­ness­man with secret ser­vice con­tacts, his girl­friend Manuela Kleins­ing, the Cosa Nos­tra boss Giuseppe Calo and an entre­pre­neur, Ernesto Dioatal­levi. The four other sus­pects were indicted on mur­der charges in April and are to stand trial in October.

Inves­ti­ga­tors believe that Calvi was mur­dered as “pun­ish­ment” for hav­ing used his posi­tion as head of the Banco Ambrosiano, then Italy’s largest pri­vate bank, to seize large sums of money belong­ing to the Sicil­ian Mafia and to Mr Gelli.

The indict­ment also says that the five ordered Calvi’s mur­der to pre­vent the banker “from using black­mail power against his polit­i­cal and insti­tu­tional spon­sors from the world of Masonry, belong­ing to the P2 lodge, or to the Insti­tute for Reli­gious Works [the Vat­i­can Bank] with whom he had man­aged invest­ments and financ­ing with con­spic­u­ous sums of money, some of it com­ing from Cosa Nos­tra and pub­lic agencies”.

Nearly 1,000 promi­nent pub­lic fig­ures includ­ing busi­ness­men such as the cur­rent Prime Min­is­ter Sil­vio Berlus­coni, senior army and police offi­cers, politi­cians and civil ser­vants belonged to Mr Gelli’s Pro­pa­ganda Due (P2) clan­des­tine Masonic lodge, dis­solved in 1981 for plot­ting to estab­lish an author­i­tar­ian regime.

When inter­ro­gated by mag­is­trates in the pres­ence of his lawyer on 4 July, Mr Gelli strongly denied hav­ing ordered the mur­der of Calvi, the sources said.

The for­mer grand mas­ter said he had known Calvi since 1975 when he was intro­duced to him by Umberto Ortolani, another lead­ing P2 mem­ber, but that he had few deal­ings with the Banco Ambrosiano, the col­lapse of which in 1982 sent Calvi flee­ing to London.

The only deal­ing he had was in 1981 when he loaned $10m to the bank’s Nas­sau sub­sidiary in the Bahamas, which was repaid to him one month later, he said.

“Calvi’s death was made to look like sui­cide,” he told the mag­is­trates. Mr Gelli said the mur­der was related to Calvi’s deal­ings with the Vat­i­can Bank, which has always denied any moral respon­si­bil­ity in the Ambrosiano affair. “One evening I was at din­ner with Calvi. He was angry, black in the face. He told me that the next day he had to go and see ‘the most Holy one’ in the Vat­i­can to get $80m that he had to pay for bills relat­ing to Poland and that if he did not get the money every­thing would blow up,” Mr Gelli was quoted as say­ing in La Repubblica.

“This hap­pened between 1979 and 1980, and that is why I said that to find Calvi’s assas­sins one ought to have inves­ti­gated in Poland,” Mr Gelli was quoted as telling the magistrates.

Mag­is­trates inves­ti­gat­ing the death of the Ital­ian banker Roberto Calvi under Black­fri­ars Bridge in Lon­don in 1982 are focus­ing on Licio Gelli, the for­mer “grand mas­ter” of the ille­gal P2 Masonic lodge that plot­ted against Ital­ian democ­racy in the 1970s.

Mr Gelli denies he was involved but has acknowl­edged that the financier, known as “God’s banker” because of his links with the Vat­i­can, was mur­dered. He said the killing was com­mis­sioned in Poland.

This is thought to be a ref­er­ence to Calvi’s alleged involve­ment in financ­ing the Sol­i­dar­ity trade union move­ment at the request of the late Pope John Paul II, accord­ing to the sources quoted by La Repub­blica newspaper.

Two Roman inves­ti­gat­ing mag­is­trates, Judge Maria Mon­teleone and Judge Luca Tescaroli, sent Mr Gelli a judi­cial let­ter inform­ing him that he is for­mally under inves­ti­ga­tion on charges of order­ing the mur­der along with four other peo­ple — Flavio Car­boni, a shad­owy busi­ness­man with secret ser­vice con­tacts, his girl­friend Manuela Kleins­ing, the Cosa Nos­tra boss Giuseppe Calo and an entre­pre­neur, Ernesto Dioatal­levi. The four other sus­pects were indicted on mur­der charges in April and are to stand trial in October.

Inves­ti­ga­tors believe that Calvi was mur­dered as “pun­ish­ment” for hav­ing used his posi­tion as head of the Banco Ambrosiano, then Italy’s largest pri­vate bank, to seize large sums of money belong­ing to the Sicil­ian Mafia and to Mr Gelli.

The indict­ment also says that the five ordered Calvi’s mur­der to pre­vent the banker “from using black­mail power against his polit­i­cal and insti­tu­tional spon­sors from the world of Masonry, belong­ing to the P2 lodge, or to the Insti­tute for Reli­gious Works [the Vat­i­can Bank] with whom he had man­aged invest­ments and financ­ing with con­spic­u­ous sums of money, some of it com­ing from Cosa Nos­tra and pub­lic agen­cies”.
Nearly 1,000 promi­nent pub­lic fig­ures includ­ing busi­ness­men such as the cur­rent Prime Min­is­ter Sil­vio Berlus­coni, senior army and police offi­cers, politi­cians and civil ser­vants belonged to Mr Gelli’s Pro­pa­ganda Due (P2) clan­des­tine Masonic lodge, dis­solved in 1981 for plot­ting to estab­lish an author­i­tar­ian regime.

When inter­ro­gated by mag­is­trates in the pres­ence of his lawyer on 4 July, Mr Gelli strongly denied hav­ing ordered the mur­der of Calvi, the sources said.

The for­mer grand mas­ter said he had known Calvi since 1975 when he was intro­duced to him by Umberto Ortolani, another lead­ing P2 mem­ber, but that he had few deal­ings with the Banco Ambrosiano, the col­lapse of which in 1982 sent Calvi flee­ing to London.

The only deal­ing he had was in 1981 when he loaned $10m to the bank’s Nas­sau sub­sidiary in the Bahamas, which was repaid to him one month later, he said.

“Calvi’s death was made to look like sui­cide,” he told the mag­is­trates. Mr Gelli said the mur­der was related to Calvi’s deal­ings with the Vat­i­can Bank, which has always denied any moral respon­si­bil­ity in the Ambrosiano affair. “One evening I was at din­ner with Calvi. He was angry, black in the face. He told me that the next day he had to go and see ‘the most Holy one’ in the Vat­i­can to get $80m that he had to pay for bills relat­ing to Poland and that if he did not get the money every­thing would blow up,” Mr Gelli was quoted as say­ing in La Repubblica.

“This hap­pened between 1979 and 1980, and that is why I said that to find Calvi’s assas­sins one ought to have inves­ti­gated in Poland,” Mr Gelli was quoted as telling the magistrates.