VATICAN CITY
NEWS.com.au
Monsignor Nunzio Scarano accused of using Vatican bank accounts to launder millions of dollars
A VATICAN monsignor already on trial for allegedly plotting to smuggle 20 million euros ($30.8 million) from Switzerland to Italy has been arrested in a separate case for allegedly using his Vatican bank accounts to launder money.
Financial police in the southern Italian city of Salerno said Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, dubbed “Monsignor 500” for his purported favored banknotes, had transferred millions of euros in fictitious donations from offshore companies through his accounts at the Vatican’s Institute for Religious Works.
Police said they seized 6.5 million euros in real estate and bank accounts on Tuesday, including Msgr Scarano’s luxurious Salerno apartment, filled with gilt-framed oil paintings, ceramic vases and other fancy antiques.
A local priest was also placed under house arrest and a notary public was suspended for alleged involvement in the money-laundering plot. Police said in all, 52 people were under investigation.
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