Gelli was accused of provoking Calvi's death to punish him for embezzling money from Banco Ambrosiano that was owed to him and the Mafia. The Mafia allegedly wanted to prevent Calvi from revealing that the bank was used for money laundering. Gelli denied involvement, but acknowledged that the financier was murdered. In his statement before the court, he said that the killing was commissioned in Poland. This is thought to be a reference to Calvi's alleged involvement in financing the Solidarity trade union movement at the request of Pope John Paul II, allegedly on behalf of the Vatican. However, Gelli's name was not in the final indictment at the trial which started in October 2005.