VATICAN CITY
DFW Catholic
Vatican City, Jul 12, 2013 / 06:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced it has frozen the funds of a senior accountant who is accused of laundering money through the so-called Vatican bank.
“By court order on the 9th of July, the Vatican Promoter of Justice has frozen funds at the IOR attributed to suspended Vatican employee Nunzio Scarano as part of an ongoing investigation by the Vatican judicial authorities,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said July 11.
Fr. Lombardi also revealed that the bank, officially called the Institute for Religious Works, has hired the Promontory Financial Group to conduct “an objective review” of the “facts and circumstances of the accounts in question,” as well as “all client relationships and the anti-money-laundering procedures it has in place.”
Promontory will be the second outside firm brought into scrutinize the Vatican’s finances, since its books are audited by Price Waterhouse Coopers each year.
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