Vatican Bank Probe: Senior Cleric Held

A senior Catholic cleric, a former spy and a financer have been arrested as part of a sweeping probe of the Vatican bank.

Nunzio Scarano, known as "monsignor" in recognition of his seniority at the Holy See, is accused of fraud and corruption for plotting to illegally fly 20m euros (£17m) in cash into Italy from Switzerland.

The 61-year-old was arrested along with a former member of the secret service and a financial broker after an investigation into the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) - as the Vatican bank is known - raised suspicions he was involved in money laundering.

Rome prosecutor Nello Rossi said the money belonged to brothers Paolo, Cesare, and Maurizio D'Amico, who own a fleet of oil tankers, and was the "fruit of tax evasion".

The headquarters of the Institute for Religious Works

Broker Giovanni Carenzio, who is also under investigation in the Canary Islands for fraud according to media reports, was safeguarding the money and was looking for a way to smuggle it into Italy.

Former agent Giovanni Maria Zito was tasked with bringing the cash in on a private jet to avoid tax and customs controls, but the deal fell through when the three men argued, Rossi said.

The jet was supposed to take the 20m euros to Rome airport, from where it would be collected and transported to Scarano's house under armed guard, but the plan was aborted.

Zito was in any case paid 400,000 euros from Scarano's bank account, Rossi said.

Pope Francis has announced a sweeping study of the bank

Mobile telephones used by three were later burned in a bid to destroy evidence, he added.

The arrests were the culmination of a two-year investigation into the three, the Rome prosecutors office said in a statement.

The probe is part of a much wider enquiry launched in 2011 into the Vatican bank, which has long been tarnished by scandals, with criminals using anonymity or false names to launder money.

In 1982 Robert Calvi - the man known as "God's Banker" for his close ties to the Vatican - was found hanging from London's Blackfriar's Bridge, with rocks and cash stuffed into his suit.

In 2007 five people were cleared of his murder, and the perpetrator has never been brought to justice.

On Wednesday, in an attempt to tighten control of its activities, Pope Francis announced a sweeping study of the bank before a possible clear-out of top management at the Holy See.

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