The Generous Lender

In the Romagna region around Bologna, no man was a more generous lender and spender than Giambattista Giuffre. To thousands of citizens, he was the selfless benefactor whose savings he increased and whose towns he rebuilt. To the Roman Catholic priests and friars whose works he aided, Giuffre was, in the words of Monsignor Antonio Bergamaschi, Bishop of Montefeltro, "a generous soul open to any welfare initiative." The Vatican made Giuffre a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, and the President of Italy honored him with the title of Commendatore. About the good works--the monasteries and Catholic Action centers, the reading rooms, town halls and houses--made possible by Giuffre's money, there was no question. But there was one question that so begged an answer that last week all Italy was asking it: Where did all the money come from?

100% Interest. The son of a carabiniere sergeant, Giambattista Giuffre, now a bald, bouncy 56, began as a bank clerk and simple family man. Then he branched out. He took a mistress, buxom Rina Bianchini, setting up her cuckolded husband in the haberdashery business. Two years ago, when the husband killed himself, Giuffre married Rina. During the years he lived in sin with her, Giuffre served as lay administrator of several Franciscan monasteries. At World War II's end, when money began to flow in Italy again, Bank Clerk Giuffre set out to go the banks one better. He attracted the bank's regular customers by offering to pay them 25% to 30% annual interest on loans to him. His good reputation--and the fact that Giuffre's bank paid only 12%--brought in the clients. In 1949 Giuffre resigned from the bank, began offering up to 100% interest.

"Give me your money," he told the thrifty Romagna peasants, "and I'll double it for you in a year." Giuffre always repaid the loans and interest promptly. Catholic charities invested large sums with him. And all the while, Giuffre gave unstintingly to the church and its works. Not long after Giuffre's black custom-built Fiat sedan drew up at the monastery of the Passionist Fathers at Cesta di Copparo, the Passionists had a new monastery, 20 new acres of farm land and an $850,000 Sanctuary to the Blessed Virgin of Peace.

"Bankers Anonymous." For more than a decade, Giuffre operated informally and personally, issuing only mimeographed notes as receipts to investors. His enterprise had no legal existence, was known simply by the title of "Bankers Anonymous." (In the Italian business vocabulary, "anonymous" means "unincorporated".) Two winters ago, Giuffre formed a limited company called ACOFI to engage in "industrial and commercial activities ... to bring about a new social order in Italy firmly based on the teachings of the church." Among his partners: Dr. Enrico Vinci, president of Italy's National Catholic Action Youth Movement and the Catholic Action's regional vice president in Romagna.

But in the spring of 1957, the Vatican's Sacred Congregation of the Council advised Italian bishops to warn their clergy against "any shadowy financial dealings, even under the best possible conditions." Church organizations began breaking ties with Giuffre. Prodded by the press, the Finance Ministry last fall opened an investigation into Giuffre's activities. Giuffre dissolved ACOFI, but nothing else happened. Again rose the usual Italian outcry that the Vatican and the Christian Democratic Party were hushing a scandal. Three weeks ago, after Luigi Preti, an energetic Social Democrat, became Italy's Finance Minister, he ordered police to search Giuffre's plush villa in Imola. They found nothing much--and were no closer to answering how Giuffre could prosper by paying 100% interest on loans.

Minister of Providence. In wounded tones, Giuffre protested: "Until a few days ago, I used to be called 'Minister of Providence' by rich and poor alike. Today the best name people give me is that of swindler. I am prepared to pay every lira entrusted to me. I admit having been wrong." Said Finance Minister Preti: "The fact that Giuffre has asked creditors for respite to repay them makes it clear he is trying to gain time." At week's end a priest, who had been sued by two parishioners for money he had lent to Giuffre, cried: "I have only my cassock. How am I going to pay 2,000,000 lire?" Giuffre dramatically reimbursed the priest. The repayment was only a fraction of the $18 million which have gone through Giuffre's hands in recent years, but the generous lender insisted, "I am tranquil because I have done good."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.