Roberto Calvi, a man guarding a dangerous secret about the Vatican Bank’s criminal activities, sends a threatening letter to the Pope. A week later on June 17th...
Calvi is arrested on a banking technicality, but after his release, he becomes paranoid. When his deputy is shot in the street, Nicolo uncovers secret tapes revealing Calvi’s mounting fear. The Bank of Italy finds a $1.2 billion hole in Calvi’s accounts—money meant for the Vatican, the Mafia, and P2. Now, it's gone.
Friends of the Pod get early access to the entire first season of Shadow Kingdom: God's Banker before it drops for everyone else—ads included.
Get early access to the full season now by joining Crooked’s Friends of the Pod at crooked.com/friends.
Hear this episode in Italian by subscribing to Il Banchiere di Dio wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
--------
34:05
God’s Banker I 4. The Priest and the Spy
As Pope John Paul II visits communist Poland, his defiance stuns the KGB. Behind the scenes, Calvi is financing the Pope's covert war on communism. Nicolo tracks down Francesco Pazienza, a spy who collaborated with Calvi. But then, a shocking call: “They’ve just shot the Pope!” Calvi senses danger closing in—who’s next?
Friends of the Pod get early access to the entire first season of Shadow Kingdom: God's Banker before it drops for everyone else—ads included.
Get early access to the full season now by joining Crooked’s Friends of the Pod at crooked.com/friends.
Hear this episode in Italian by subscribing to Il Banchiere di Dio wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
--------
33:15
God’s Banker I 3. The Grandmaster
A dawn raid on an Italian warehouse uncovers a secret far-right society, P2, just months before a planned coup. Prosecutor Giulano Turone, who led the raid, reveals how this discovery brought down Italy's government and exposed Roberto Calvi as P2's financier. Calvi, desperate to save himself, turns to God.
Friends of the Pod get early access to the entire first season of Shadow Kingdom: God's Banker before it drops for everyone else—ads included.
Get early access to the full season now by joining Crooked’s Friends of the Pod at crooked.com/friends.
Hear this episode in Italian by subscribing to Il Banchiere di Dio wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
--------
40:41
God’s Banker I 2. Our Thing
Mario claims Calvi laundered Mafia money through the Vatican Bank. Nicolo contacts Mafia hitman Vincenzo Calcara, who recounts smuggling suitcases of cash from Sicily to Rome, where Calvi waited. The story is unbelievable—but it might be true.
Get early access to the full season now by joining Crooked’s Friends of the Pod at crooked.com/friends.
Hear this episode in Italian by subscribing to Il Banchiere di Dio wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
--------
40:33
God’s Banker I 1. Death of a Banker
In 2022, Attorney Nicolo Majnoni reconnects with an old friend, former White House reporter Mario Platero, who has been fixated for decades on the murder of Vatican banker Roberto Calvi. Mario suspects the Vatican, the Mafia, and other shadowy groups. What starts as a conversation sparks Nicolo's obsession, leading him to abandon his law firm and dive into one of history’s most notorious unsolved crimes.
Get early access to the full season now by joining Crooked’s Friends of the Pod at crooked.com/friends.
Hear this episode in Italian by subscribing to Il Banchiere di Dio wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Roberto Calvi, a man guarding a dangerous secret about the Vatican Bank’s criminal activities, sends a threatening letter to the Pope. A week later on June 17th, 1982 he’s found dead hanging from a bridge in London. British police call it suicide, but questions and conspiracies swirl. Forty years on, lawyer Nicolo Majnoni gets a tip there might be more to the story and embarks on a quest to uncover the truth. Was Roberto Calvi, aka God’s Banker, killed? And if so, by whom?
Shadow Kingdom is a new series from Crooked Media and Campside Media. Each season starts with a crime, and as the layers are peeled back to find out who or what is at the center of it, a larger system at play is revealed.
Get early access to the full season by joining Crooked’s Friends of the Pod at crooked.com/friends. Hear the Italian language version of Shadow Kingdom: God’s Banker by subscribing to Il Banchiere di Dio wherever you get your podcasts.