New money-laundering complaints for Vatican bank

December 13, 2010

The Vatican Bank is under new scrutiny in a case involving money-laundering allegations that led police to seize €23m (£19.25m) in September.

Italian officials charge that the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), intentionally violated new European rules designed to prevent money-laundering.

In an investigation into the affairs of the Vatican bank, which prompted the seizure of €23 million in IOR funds by Italian authorities in September, has called attention to two questionable transactions, amid charges that the IOR had “the aim of hiding the ownership, destination, and origin of the capital.”

IOR officials insist that the transactions in question can be explained, and attribute the problems to faulty record-keeping. Banking officials question whether the bank was used as a front for criminal activities.

 

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Further information:

• Vatican Bank 'allowed clergy to act as front for Mafia' (AP)