Edbear
4th January 2011, 13:48
Subject: Vatican Bank mired in laundering scandal
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/12/11/20101211vatican-bank-money-laundering-scandal-ON.html#comments
Vatican Bank mired in laundering scandal
19 commentsby Victor L. Simpson and Nicole Winfield - Dec. 11, 2010 09:55 AM
Associated Press
VATICAN CITY - This is no ordinary bank: The ATMs are in Latin. Priests use a private entrance. A life-size portrait of Pope Benedict XVI hangs on the wall.
Nevertheless, the Institute for Religious Works is a bank, and it's under harsh new scrutiny in a case involving money-laundering allegations that led police to seize $30 million in Vatican assets in September. Critics say the case shows that the "Vatican Bank" has never shed its penchant for secrecy and scandal.
The Vatican calls the seizure of assets a "misunderstanding" and expresses optimism it will be quickly cleared up. But court documents show that prosecutors say the Vatican Bank deliberately flouted anti-laundering laws "with the aim of hiding the ownership, destination and origin of the capital." The documents also reveal investigators' suspicions that clergy may have acted as fronts for corrupt businessmen and Mafia.
The documents pinpoint two transactions that have not been reported: one in 2009 involving the use of a false name, and another in 2010 in which the Vatican Bank withdrew $860 million from an Italian bank account but ignored bank requests to disclose where the money was headed.
The new allegations of financial impropriety could not come at a worse time for the Vatican, already hit by revelations that it sheltered pedophile priests. The corruption probe has given new hope to Holocaust survivors who tried unsuccessfully to sue in the United States, alleging that Nazi loot was stored in the Vatican Bank.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/12/11/20101211vatican-bank-money-laundering-scandal-ON.html#comments#ixzz17xdWKOCq
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/12/11/20101211vatican-bank-money-laundering-scandal-ON.html#comments
Vatican Bank mired in laundering scandal
19 commentsby Victor L. Simpson and Nicole Winfield - Dec. 11, 2010 09:55 AM
Associated Press
VATICAN CITY - This is no ordinary bank: The ATMs are in Latin. Priests use a private entrance. A life-size portrait of Pope Benedict XVI hangs on the wall.
Nevertheless, the Institute for Religious Works is a bank, and it's under harsh new scrutiny in a case involving money-laundering allegations that led police to seize $30 million in Vatican assets in September. Critics say the case shows that the "Vatican Bank" has never shed its penchant for secrecy and scandal.
The Vatican calls the seizure of assets a "misunderstanding" and expresses optimism it will be quickly cleared up. But court documents show that prosecutors say the Vatican Bank deliberately flouted anti-laundering laws "with the aim of hiding the ownership, destination and origin of the capital." The documents also reveal investigators' suspicions that clergy may have acted as fronts for corrupt businessmen and Mafia.
The documents pinpoint two transactions that have not been reported: one in 2009 involving the use of a false name, and another in 2010 in which the Vatican Bank withdrew $860 million from an Italian bank account but ignored bank requests to disclose where the money was headed.
The new allegations of financial impropriety could not come at a worse time for the Vatican, already hit by revelations that it sheltered pedophile priests. The corruption probe has given new hope to Holocaust survivors who tried unsuccessfully to sue in the United States, alleging that Nazi loot was stored in the Vatican Bank.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/12/11/20101211vatican-bank-money-laundering-scandal-ON.html#comments#ixzz17xdWKOCq