Monday, June 11, 2012

Bizarre Goings-on at the Vatican Bank (again)

I'm not sure I'd take this story at face value.
With the V. Bank's history you never know what these guys are really up to.
From the Guardian:

Vatican bank's former president accused of negligence
Ettore Gotti Tedeschi left post as head of the Institute for the Works of Religion last month amid complaints from colleagues
The ousted head of the Vatican bank came under a withering counter-attack at the weekend as his former top official accused him of negligence and leaked documents were published casting doubt on his mental health.
The Vatican meanwhile warned Italian prosecutors against using information in papers seized last week from the bank's ex-president, saying it may be covered by the Holy See's "sovereign prerogatives".

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who was appointed by Pope Benedict to bring the Vatican into line with international regulations on money laundering, was dismissed last month from the presidency of the bank, known as the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR).

The financier was last week reported to have prepared a series of dossiers to be sent to named individuals in the event of his sudden death. According to an Italian prosecutor, Gotti Tedeschi has said his problems at the bank started after he demanded to see "information about accounts that were not in the church's name"....MORE
In autumn 2010 the story was "Italian police seize $30M from Vatican in probe":
Hey! It's the 80's all over again!
[exclamation marks! please don't start singing Wham! -ed]

It seems like only yesterday we were reading "Italy: The Great Vatican Bank Mystery"

A tale of two deaths, twelve investigations and missing millions
Two suicides, both of which could conceivably be murder. As much as $1.2 billion in unsecured loans. The failure of Italy's huge Banco Ambrosiano, which has left more than 200 international financial institutions holding the bag for millions in loans. A scandal that has threatened the stability of the entire international banking system and has begun to bring about subtle changes in the way the world's major banks do business. A secret plot to undermine the government of Italy and to change the shape of politics in several Latin American countries....
-Time Magazine
September 13, 1982
From the AP:
Italian authorities seized euro23 million ($30.18 million) from a Vatican bank account Tuesday and said they have begun investigating top officials of the Vatican bank in connection with a money laundering probe.
The Vatican said it was "perplexed and surprised" by the investigation.

Italian financial police seized the money as a precaution and prosecutors placed the Vatican bank's director general and its chairman under investigation for alleged mistakes linked to violations of Italy's anti-laundering laws, news reports said.

The is probe not the first time the bank — formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion — has faced trouble. In the 1980s, it was involved in a major scandal that resulted in a banker, dubbed "God's Banker" because of his close ties to the Vatican, being found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London....MORE
Alrighty then. As for me, I gotta go go.