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	Sicily Probe Adds to Vatican Bank Pressures By Guy Dinmore Financial Times November 3, 2010 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/08d90da8-e76d-11df-b5b4-00144feab49a,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F08d90da8-e76d-11df-b5b4-00144feab49a.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bishop-accountability.org%2FAbuseTracker%2F An investigation in Sicily into suspected fraud and money laundering involving a Roman Catholic priest and possibly the Mafia has highlighted mounting pressure on the Vatican to bring its sometimes secretive banking operations in line with global standards. Police made six arrests last week in connection with Father Orazio Bonaccorsi, allegedly using an account in the name of the Vatican bank to help his father launder ˆ250,000 he had obtained from European Union funding for an allegedly non-existent fish farm project. After passing through the account as a “charity” donation in 2006, the money allegedly returned to Sicily to be withdrawn by an uncle previously convicted for Mafia association. Asked for his reaction, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, head of the Institute of Religious Works (IOR), as the Vatican bank is formally known, replied: “No comment. The fact regards the past. It could not happen any more.” Mr Gotti Tedeschi, who lectures in ethics in finance, was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI last year with a mandate to draw a line under IOR’s sometimes murky past through greater transparency and by adopting international norms.
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