Francesco Pazienza Explained

Francesco Pazienza (born March 17, 1946) is an Italian businessman and former officer of the SISMI, the Italian military intelligence agency. As of April 2007, he had been paroled to the community of Lerici,[1] after serving many years in prison, including a 1993 conviction due to his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal,[2] and a 1982 conviction for mishandling state secrets.[3]

Born in Monteparano, Pazienza holds a degree in medicine from the University of Rome. He worked as a business consultant in France during the 1970s. In 1979, he was hired into SISMI, and became an assistant to SISMI director, General Giuseppe Santovito. Pazienza left the intelligence agency in wake of the Propaganda Due scandal that rocked the Italian political scene in 1981. The Banco Ambrosiano scandal, Roberto Calvi's much debated suicide, and charges of mishandling state secrets concerned with the 1980 Bologna bombing made Pazienza a fugitive from Italian law.[3]

Eventually, Pazienza ended up in the United States. A first extradition request from Italy was handed to the U.S. government in 1984, although Pazienza was not yet arrested. His arrest come only on March 4, 1985.[3] Extradition procedures ensued, and a judge order him to stand trial in Italy,[4] an appeal process did not change that, and Pazienza was handed over to the Italian government in June 1986.[5]

Mehmet Ali Ağca

During the trial of Mehmet Ali Ağca's 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, Ağca claimed to have been visited by Pazienza in his prison cell at Rome's Ascoli Piceno; this came just after the presiding judge called for pazienza ("patience") in the court room.[6] [7] That Pazienza visited Ağca was also claimed by Giovanni Pandico, a former Camorra member turned pentito. From his New York prison, Pazienza denied ever having visited Ağca;[8] [9] Pazienza was questioned on this issue by Italian investigative judge, Ilario Martella, in New York.[10] A short time later, Martella dropped the charges of Agca being coached by supposed elements from the Italian military intelligence.[11] [12]

Banco Ambrosiano

When Pazienza was still a fugitive, he was questioned in the United States by Customs agents regarding financial fraud charges brought in Italy that had grown out of the disappearance of funds, about $3 million, from the Banco Ambrosiano. Pazienza later claimed that these Customs agents had told him that Stefano Delle Chiaie had been seen in Miami, Florida, with an unidentified Turk,[13] and repeated his position during the time he was on trial on charges stemming from the 1980 Bologna bombing.[14] It is unclear if this Turk was Abdullah Çatlı or Oral Çelik.[13]

Billy Carter investigation

A 1985 investigation by The Wall Street Journal suggested that a series of Billygate articles written by Michael Ledeen and published in The New Republic in October 1980 were part of a disinformation campaign intended to influence the outcome of that year's presidential election. According to the reporting, Pazienza alleged that Ledeen was paid $120,000 for his work on Billygate and other projects.[15] Pazienza was later tried and convicted in absentia for using "extortion and fraud to obtain embarrassing facts about Billy Carter".[16]

Bologna bombing

Pazienza was sentenced in 1988 for trying to divert the investigation into the 1980 bombing of the Bologna train station on charges relating the planting of similar explosive materials in a train in 1981, leading a trail away from the actual perpetrators.[17] In 1990, his conviction was reversed on appeals;[18] a retrial resulted in a definitive prison term handed out in 1995.[19]

Notes and References

  1. News: Faccenderie Pazienza Volontario Pubblica Assistenza Lerici. ANSA. April 17, 2007.
  2. News: Olivetti Chief Convicted in Bank Scandal. The Guardian. 21. April 17, 1993.
  3. News: Tale of Intrigue: How an Italian Ex-Spy Who Also Helped U.S. Landed in Prison Here. The Wall Street Journal. 1. August 7, 1985.
  4. News: Former Italian Spy Loses First Round in Extradition Case. The Wall Street Journal. 1. September 12, 1985.
  5. News: Pazienza Extradited. Financial Times. 1. June 20, 1986.
  6. News: The Gospel According to Ali Agca. Alexander Cockburn. Alexander Cockburn. The Nation. Jul 6–13, 1985. https://web.archive.org/web/20170123144748/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp90-00965r000201170011-2. dead. January 23, 2017.
  7. News: Former Spy Says He Warned the Vatican of Assassination Try --- Name of Pazienza Crops Up at Trial of the Bulgarians in Attempt to Kill Pope. The Wall Street Journal. 1. August 8, 1985.
  8. News: Three deny Agca was coached about 'Bulgarian connection'. United Press International. December 12, 1985.
  9. News: Rome Inquiry: Was Agca Coached?. The New York Times. A3. October 8, 1985.
  10. News: Italian Is in New York, Investigating Papal Plot. The New York Times. A7. December 11, 1985.
  11. News: Italian Judge Said to Drop Probe of Agca Being Coached. The Washington Post. A31. December 18, 1985.
  12. News: The Bulgarian Connection Still Holds. The Wall Street Journal. 1. February 12, 1986. https://web.archive.org/web/20170123191805/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp90-00552r000505100014-7. dead. January 23, 2017.
  13. News: Italian Ex-Agent Ordered Extradited from U.S.. The New York Times. A12. September 12, 1985.
  14. News: Suspected Right-Wing Terrorist Questioned in Papal Shooting. Associated Press. April 17, 1987.
  15. News: Gabanelli . Milena . Milena Gabanelli . Il personaggio: Dopo 13 anni di carcere parla Francesco Pazienza. L'uomo dei misteri d'Italia rivela: lingotti per aiutare Walesa. 'Io, Gelli e la strage di Bologna': Ecco le verità della super-spia . The character: After 13 years in prison Francesco Pazienza speaks. The man of the mysteries of Italy reveals: ingots to help Walesa. "Me, Gelli and the Bologna massacre": Here are the truths of the super spy . it . . January 30, 2009 . September 8, 2021 . March 9, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210309193811/http://www.repubblica.it/2009/01/sezioni/politica/pazienza-gelli/pazienza-gelli/pazienza-gelli.html.
  16. Unger. Craig. Craig Unger. The War They Wanted, the Lies They Needed. Vanity Fair. July 2006. August 5, 2013. A 1985 investigation by Jonathan Kwitny in The Wall Street Journal reported that the New Republic article was part of a larger disinformation scam run by Ledeen and SISMI to tilt the election, and that 'Billy Carter wasn't the only one allegedly getting money from a foreign government.' According to Pazienza, Kwitny reported, Michael Ledeen had received at least $120,000 from SISMI in 1980 or 1981 for his work on Billygate and other projects. Ledeen even had a coded identity, Z-3, and had money sent to him in a Bermuda bank account, Pazienza said. Ledeen told the Journal that a consulting firm he owned, I.S.I., worked for SISMI and may have received the money. He said he did not recall whether he had a coded identity. Pazienza was subsequently convicted in absentia on multiple charges, including having used extortion and fraud to obtain embarrassing facts about Billy Carter. Ledeen was never charged with any crime, but he was cited in Pazienza's indictment, which read, 'With the illicit support of the SISMI and in collaboration with the well-known American 'Italianist' Michael Ledeen, Pazienza succeeded in extorting, also using fraudulent means, information ... on the Libyan business of Billy Carter, the brother of the then President of the United States.'.
  17. News: Italy's No. 1 Fugitive Arrested by Customs Agents. Associated Press. March 4, 1985.
  18. News: Appeals Court Throws Out Bologna Bombing Convictions. Associated Press. July 29, 1990.
  19. News: Italy remembers 1980 Bologna train station massacre. ANSA. August 2, 2007.

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