\u00a0<\/em>officer – came up with an elaborate plot that would involve moving\u00a0\u00a0\u20ac20 million, via private jet transport, from Switzerland into Italy, with the goal of avoiding paying any customs duties. It all blew up when the unnamed financier pulled out of the plot at the eleventh hour; it’s unclear if he then went to authorities or not.<\/p>\nScarano’s attorney Sica says his client was just the middleman in that one. Because apparently, that’s not illegal.<\/p>\n
Police now think that money for both cases could have originated with the D’Amico family, a prominent Italian shipping dynasty. They say that more than\u00a0\u00a0\u20ac5 million were given to Scarano by offshore companies that could be traced back to the D’Amicos.<\/p>\n
Authorities say that back in 2009, Scarano withdrew \u00a0\u20ac555,248 from his Vatican account, moving it into Italy proper. In order to avoid suspicion, police report, Scarano elicited the aid of 50 acquaintances, convincing them to take\u00a0\u00a0\u20ac10,000 each; he then got back checks or wire transfers in the same amounts.<\/p>\n
Using a company of which Scarano had partial ownership, the Monsignor then used the gathered monies to pay off said mortgage on one of his properties.<\/p>\n
No one from the D’Amico family has yet been arrested or charged, and the family has denied any involvement via a PR firm. They emanate from Salerno as well.<\/p>\n
Scarano was fired following the initial arrests; apparently embezzlement charges don’t look great on your resume when you’re an accountant in one of the world’s wealthiest organizations. It’s all love and peace until you start messing with the money, and Vatican prosecutors seized\u00a0\u00a0\u20ac2.3 million that remained in Scarano’s accounts following his arrest.<\/p>\n
Now the Vatican’s top prosecutor says the Holy See is cooperating with Italian authorities, and asking for help in return, in order to get to the bottom of this money-laundering case to end all money-laundering cases. According to the Vatican’s own internal investigations, Scarano’s busy banking activities showed as much as\u00a0\u00a0\u20ac7 million moving in and out of his Vatican accounts throughout the last ten years.<\/p>\n
Along with Salerno’s firing in June came the resignations of two top banking managers within the Vatican, and the ironically delightful call for the world’s most powerful religious organization to adapt international anti-money-laundering standards.<\/p>\n
It now appears no one less than Pope Francis himself has called for major Vatican banking reforms, and has even created a commission to \u00a0expedite that effort.<\/p>\n
Scarano is on house arrest due to what is referred to as his ailing health. Apparently arrest #2 will not change that mode of punishment. We’re just a little confused if he’s still in the fancy apartment, or if he’s now moved to more modest digs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whenever you think you’ve heard the craziest embezzlement story in the history of man, along comes another one to prove you dead wrong. Such is the case of a Vatican monsignor – already awaiting trial on charges of plotting to smuggle 20 million euros ($30.8 million) into Italy out of Switzerland, mind you – who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":17274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Vatican Monsignor Arrested Second Time for Illicit Financial Dealings<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n