Anti-mafia unit probe 'God's Banker' files theft

Italy’s anti-Mafia unit is investigating the theft of files from the British coroner re-examining the death of “God’s Banker” Roberto Calvi, it emerged today.

Paul Matthews, coroner for the City of London, had a laptop stolen from his hotel room and a bag snatched as he walked through a busy station on a recent visit to Rome.

Mr Matthews was in the Italian capital for a lecture and was not there to discuss the case, as had been reported.

A spokesman for City of London Police, which is leading the re-investigation into Calvi’s death, said the thieves did not take any sensitive material relating to the case.

No witness statements or investigative reports were among the material taken, he stressed.

But anti-Mafia officials in Rome are understood to be looking at the possibility that Mr Matthews was deliberately targeted by the Mafia.

“We are aware of the thefts,” the City of London Police spokesman said. “We are working with the Italian authorities in relation to them and the Calvi case as a whole.”

The spokesman added that they “had not taken a view” on whether the Mafia were likely to have been involved in the thefts.

Calvi, who was known as “God’s Banker” because of his links to the Vatican, was found hanged under Blackfriars Bridge in central London in 1982.

He was initially believed to have killed himself but in 2002 a panel of forensic experts concluded that he had been killed.

In September last year, after more than two decades, City of London Police reopened their investigation as a murder inquiry.

They have since been working closely with Italian authorities who have identified four suspects, including a Mafia boss, in Italy.

Mr Calvi’s family believe his death was linked to an organised crime conspiracy.