ITALY
Wall Street Journal
By Gilles Castonguay
MILAN—Italian financial police Friday arrested a senior prelate, a financial broker and a member of Italy’s secret service in an investigation into a failed attempt to bring about €20 million ($26.1 million) in cash into Italy from Switzerland by plane, a spokesman for the financial police said.
According to the spokesman, the investigation was opened by the public prosecutor’s office in Rome while it was pursuing a separate probe into the Vatican’s bank, the Institute of Religious Works, which is under pressure from international regulators to improve its transparency.
The investigation didn’t concern the bank, known by its Italian abbreviation, IOR, the spokesman said.
“It is an offshoot,” he said.
The suspects, including Msgr. Nunzio Scarano, are being investigated for crimes such as fraud and corruption, he added.
Msgr. Scarano’s lawyer, Silverio Sica, confirmed the arrest.
Msgr. Scarano had already suspended himself from his duties with the church after coming under investigation in a separate money-laundering case, Mr. Sica added.
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