Niccolo Mainoni

Shadow Kingdom is a production of Crooked Media and Campside Media. It's hosted and reported by me, Niccolo Mainoni, with additional reporting by Simona Zecchi and Joe Hawthorne. The show is written by Joe Hawthorne, Ashley-Ann Krigbaum, and me. Joe Hawthorne is our lead producer, and Ashley-Ann Krigbaum is our managing producer. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor.

Shadow Kingdom is a production of Crooked Media and Campside Media. It's hosted and reported by me, Niccolo Mainoni, with additional reporting by Simona Zecchi and Joe Hawthorne. The show is written by Joe Hawthorne, Ashley-Ann Krigbaum, and me. Joe Hawthorne is our lead producer, and Ashley-Ann Krigbaum is our managing producer. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor.

Sound design, mix, and mastering by Mark McAdam. Our theme song and original score are composed by me and Mark McAdam. Our studio engineer is Ewan Lightram Ewan. Voice acting by Bonnie Biagini, Andrea Bianchi, Ferrante Cosma, Luca De Gennaro, Michele Teodori, and Mustafa Zialan. Field recording by Justin Trigger, Jonathan Zenti, Pete Shev, Jonathan Gruber, and Joanna Broder.

Sound design, mix, and mastering by Mark McAdam. Our theme song and original score are composed by me and Mark McAdam. Our studio engineer is Ewan Lightram Ewan. Voice acting by Bonnie Biagini, Andrea Bianchi, Ferrante Cosma, Luca De Gennaro, Michele Teodori, and Mustafa Zialan. Field recording by Justin Trigger, Jonathan Zenti, Pete Shev, Jonathan Gruber, and Joanna Broder.

Fact-checking by Zoe Sullivan. Our executive producers are me, Niccolo Mainoni, along with Sarah Geismar, Katie Long, and Allison Falsetta from Crooked Media. Josh Dean, Adam Hoff, Matt Scher, and Vanessa Gregoriadis are the executive producers at Campside Media. One last thing before we go. You can also listen to Shadow Kingdom in Italian.

Fact-checking by Zoe Sullivan. Our executive producers are me, Niccolo Mainoni, along with Sarah Geismar, Katie Long, and Allison Falsetta from Crooked Media. Josh Dean, Adam Hoff, Matt Scher, and Vanessa Gregoriadis are the executive producers at Campside Media. One last thing before we go. You can also listen to Shadow Kingdom in Italian.

Look up Il Banchiere di Dio wherever you get your podcasts.

Look up Il Banchiere di Dio wherever you get your podcasts.

Friends of the Pod subscribers can listen to the full season of Shadow Kingdom right now. Join Friends of the Pod at crooked.com slash friends or on Apple Podcasts. In the middle of a hot summer night in 1981, Roberto Calvi sat in a prison cell and began to cry. He'd been arrested just a week after the assassination attempt on John Paul II, and had spent two months wasting away in his cell.

Friends of the Pod subscribers can listen to the full season of Shadow Kingdom right now. Join Friends of the Pod at crooked.com slash friends or on Apple Podcasts. In the middle of a hot summer night in 1981, Roberto Calvi sat in a prison cell and began to cry. He'd been arrested just a week after the assassination attempt on John Paul II, and had spent two months wasting away in his cell.

Calvi's stubble was beginning to show. His eyes were red from lack of sleep. His beige prison jumpsuit stunk of BO. Calvi had been stripped of his designer clothes right down to his shoelaces, and he hadn't had a good night's sleep in months. His cellmates would play cards, and they'd listen to music all night, keeping him from sleeping. Calvi was charged with breaking currency export laws.

Calvi's stubble was beginning to show. His eyes were red from lack of sleep. His beige prison jumpsuit stunk of BO. Calvi had been stripped of his designer clothes right down to his shoelaces, and he hadn't had a good night's sleep in months. His cellmates would play cards, and they'd listen to music all night, keeping him from sleeping. Calvi was charged with breaking currency export laws.

Basically, Italy wanted to protect its economy by forcing people to keep their money in the country. Yeah, it's illegal to export a certain amount of capital abroad in Italy. Everybody was doing that. I asked Francisco Pacienza, the former spy who worked for Calvi, about Calvi's arrest. And he said what I heard from lots of people, which is, everybody ignored this law.

Basically, Italy wanted to protect its economy by forcing people to keep their money in the country. Yeah, it's illegal to export a certain amount of capital abroad in Italy. Everybody was doing that. I asked Francisco Pacienza, the former spy who worked for Calvi, about Calvi's arrest. And he said what I heard from lots of people, which is, everybody ignored this law.

To be clear, Calvi was up to a bunch of financial shenanigans. But it's also pretty normal for bankers to work internationally, sending cash outside of their country. So arresting Calvi for this kind of felt like arresting a pedestrian for jaywalking. It seemed like prosecutors were going after Calvi to send a political message. Some reporters claimed this was a left-wing vendetta against Calvi.

To be clear, Calvi was up to a bunch of financial shenanigans. But it's also pretty normal for bankers to work internationally, sending cash outside of their country. So arresting Calvi for this kind of felt like arresting a pedestrian for jaywalking. It seemed like prosecutors were going after Calvi to send a political message. Some reporters claimed this was a left-wing vendetta against Calvi.

Others suggested that prosecutors wanted to send a message to tax cheats, to other rich Italians who were shadily trying to conceal money abroad. Either way, Patienza said this was a shock to Calvi's world.

Others suggested that prosecutors wanted to send a message to tax cheats, to other rich Italians who were shadily trying to conceal money abroad. Either way, Patienza said this was a shock to Calvi's world.

You're the Calvi family creative fixer at this point. Are you helping him now that he's in jail? Are you giving him strategies?

You're the Calvi family creative fixer at this point. Are you helping him now that he's in jail? Are you giving him strategies?