January 13, 2015
Pope’s merchant bank faces money laundering accusations after investigation
Pope Francis sanctioned the probe as part of his drive to clean up the Holy See after decades of financial sleaze
Michael Day Rome
Wednesday 4 November 2015
Vatican investigators have accused the shadowy organization known as the Pope’s merchant bank of money laundering, insider trading and market manipulation, it has emerged.
Details of the alleged crimes committed by the institution, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA), said to have been between 2000 and 2011, have been passed to authorities in Italy and Switzerland. Investigators say the illicit activity involved bank accounts held in these countries.
Pope Francis sanctioned the probe into APSA as part of his drive to clean up the Vatican after decades of financial sleaze. The Vatican Bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IoR), has often figured in previous scandals. Italian prosecutors involved in a long-running investigation claimed that the IoR had operated in Italy without authorisation for 40 years.
But concerns have also centred on APSA, which as well as paying the Vatican’s salaries looks after its property, financial and share holdings. The 33-page report by the Vatican Financial Information Authority focuses on a “portfolio” worth more than €2m (£1.5m) sent to Switzerland shortly before the Vatican introduced new laws against money laundering.
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