VATICAN CITY
Irish Times
Vatican Bank denies any wrongdoing in relation to cash transits and closure of ‘lay’ accounts
Paddy Agnew
Mon, Dec 9, 2013
Are Italian finance police about to set up a checkpoint outside the Vatican’s Porta Santa Anna gate to stop people who have visited the Vatican Bank, IOR, in order to ascertain the nature of their business?
That alarmist scenario emerged last weekend following Italian media speculation that the Holy See’s financial regulator AIF had been less than co-operative with Italian Customs in relation to movements of money at IOR in 2011 and 2012.
Furthermore, Italian daily, Corriere Della Sera yesterday reported that some 1,200 of IOR’s 19,000 accounts will shortly be closed by the bank. Corriere suggests the accounts in question, known as “lay” accounts, could account for up to €300 million.
Unruffled by reports
Sources at IOR were last night unworried by the media reports, claiming that the Vatican Bank co-operated with “all the appropriate authorities” and that the “lay” accounts had been closed because the account holders had “no ongoing affiliation with the Holy See”.
Speaking in parliament last Friday, however, junior finance minister Sesa Amici confirmed that the Customs agency was waiting for a reply from AIF to a June 19th request for a meeting. In particular, it is reportedly seeking information about almost 5,000 unregistered movements of money in and out of Italy via IOR. Inevitably, Italian finance police suspect the undeclared money may relate to tax evasion and money laundering.
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.