The Vatican Connection: The True Story of a Billion-Dollar Conspiracy Between the Catholic Church and the Mafia

Richard Hammer

Aug 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Stephen Bowlby

About this audiobook

With a round, open face and a penchant for tall tales, Matteo de Lorenzo resembled everyone's kindly uncle. But Uncle Marty, as he was known throughout the Genovese crime family, was one of the New York mob's top earners throughout the 1960s and '70s, the mastermind of a billion-dollar trade in stolen and counterfeit securities. In the spring of 1972, de Lorenzo and his business partner, Vincent Rizzo, traveled to Europe to discuss a plan to launder millions of dollars' worth of phony securities. Shockingly, the plot involved Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, the scandal-plagued president of the Vatican Bank. Unbeknownst to de Lorenzo and Rizzo, however, the NYPD was already on the case-thanks to the work of Det. Joseph Coffey. Coffey, the New York policeman who investigated the Lufthansa heist and took the Son of Sam's confession, learned of the scheme in a wiretap related to the attempted mob takeover of the Playboy Club in Manhattan. He worked tirelessly to trace the fraudulent stocks and bonds around the world and deep into the corridors of power in Washington, DC, and Rome. Meticulously researched and relentlessly gripping, The Vatican Connection is a true story of corruption and deceit.

About the author

Richard Hammer is the author of more than twenty fiction and nonfiction books, as well as numerous short stories, articles, and essays. He has won two Edgar Awards for Best Fact Crime, for The Vatican Connection (1982) and The CBS Murders (1987). He and his wife currently reside in New York City.

Stephen Bowlby, a lifelong performer and filmmaker, loves bringing ideas to life in ways that entertain, inviting both action and reflection. With a career in writing, directing, and film editing, he infuses his narration with a strong sense of story.