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

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 secur...