ITALY
Telegraph (UK)
An Italian spy, a Vatican official and banker have been arrested on suspicion of corruption and fraud involving an alleged plot to bring 20 million euros in cash into Italy from Switzerland aboard a government plane.
By Nick Squires, Rome11:57AM BST 28 Jun 2013
The arrests come just two days after Pope Francis appointed a special commission to oversee the Vatican’s scandal-plagued bank, which is known officially as the Institute for Religious Works.
Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was arrested after allegedly trying to bring the sum of money into Italy from Switzerland in an Italian government plane.
He had recently been suspended as an accountant in a Vatican department which manages the assets of the Holy See.
He is accused of fraud, corruption and slander.
His lawyer, Silverio Sica, told The Associated Press that the prelate was a middleman in the operation – friends had asked him to intervene with a broker, Giovanni Carenzio, to return 20 million euros (£17m) they had given him to invest.
Mr Sica said Msgr Scarano had persuaded Mr Carenzio to return the money, and an Italian secret service agent, Giovanni Maria Zito, went to Switzerland to bring the cash back aboard an Italian government aircraft.
The operation failed because Mr Carenzio, the broker, reneged on the deal, the lawyer said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.