Two former top executives of Vatican bank face charges; Vatican freezes their accounts

December 09, 2014

A Vatican prosecutor has frozen the accounts of two former executives of the Vatican bank, who face criminal charges for embezzlement.

Angelo Caloia, the former president of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR); and Lelio Scaletti, the former director-general of the bank, are being charged with siphoning off money from the sale of Vatican properties to Italian buyers. An Italian lawyer, Gabriele Liuzzo, is also the focus of the prosecutor’s charges.

Vatican prosecutor Gian Piero Milano issued orders to freeze nearly $20 million in funds held by the suspects.

The charges arose from an audit conducted under the new management of the IOR in 2013 and 2014. That audit drew attention to a series of real-estate transfers that took place between 2001 and 2008, during the time when Caloia and Scaletti were the top officials of the IOR. The prosecutor charges that the pair understated the sales prices of the buildings and took the remainder in cash payments.

Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, the current president of the IOR, said that the bank’s leadership is “very pleased” with the “decisive action” taken by the prosecutor.

The accused men have denied the accusations.

 

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Further information:

• Prosecutor freezes accounts of ex-Vatican bank heads (Reuters)
• Director of the Holy See Press Office on the inquiry on two ex-executives of the IOR (VIS)
• Ex-Vatican bank officials charged with embezzlement (Crux)