Alphabet Boys · iHeartPodcasts and Western Sound

9. Tomorrow I'm Going to Rob the Bank

July 24, 2023·36 min·2 clips

Flavio says calling the CIA was like telling police, “tomorrow, rob the bank in Fifth Avenue.”

Flavio Giorgetto's arrest in Montenegro sits at the center of the hour. The case starts with DEA agents arresting Flavio, after which he agrees to help them lure Massimo to Montenegro. From there, the reporting expands into the alleged plan to provide material support to people U.S. authorities described as terrorists, even as the episode notes that the FARC label was disputed in the story itself. Flavio says he called the CIA because he believed he was reporting a crime. The prosecution says that call was a cover. That disagreement becomes the episode's main engine. Massimo Romagnoli's court testimony adds another route into the same events. He says he was told there was a ticket to Podgorica and went to Montenegro to collect the money. Right after passport control, police arrest him. The sequence is straightforward. The implications are not. The episode also revisits the U.S. announcement naming Flavio, Christian Ventilla, and Massimo Romagnoli in the case. A former FBI handler, Mark, enters through memory and regret. He remembers Flavio bringing wine as a gift when they first met, and that small rule break eventually becomes part of why he loses his job. That detail gives the reporting a bureaucratic edge. It shows how minor policy violations can sit alongside much larger failures. Mark thinks about testifying about Flavio's work with the bureau in Vegas, then decides against it because he fears what questions it might open. Years later, that silence still hangs over him. The episode ends up less interested in declaring heroes or villains than in showing how institutions, incentives, and fear can trap people in stories they cannot fully control.

As heard by us

A Montenegro arrest story where help, cover, and loyalty stay in tension.

Set in Montenegro, this episode follows Flavio's cooperation with the DEA, Massimo Romagnoli's version of the trip, and the lingering question of whether the CIA call was help, cover, or both.

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Why you'd press play

A DEA lure, a CIA claim, and a Montenegro arrest keep the stakes moving.

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