Vatican Chief Accountant Arrested over Plot to Smuggle 20 Million Euros into Italy Aboard Government Plane
By Hannah Roberts
His nickname in Vatican circles was reportedly ‘Don 500 Euros’ thanks to his habit of showing people that he had only the largest bank note in his wallet. According to attorney Silverio Sica, Scarano was a middleman in the Swiss operation. Friends had asked him to intervene with Carenzio to return 20 million euros they had given him to invest. Sica said Scarano persuaded Carenzio to return the money, and an Italian secret service agent, Giovanni Maria Zito, went to Switzerland to bring the cash back aboard an Italian government aircraft. Such a move would presumably prevent any reporting of the money coming into Italy. The operation failed because Carenzio reneged on the deal, Sica said. Zito, nevertheless, demanded his 400,000 Euros commission. Scarano paid him an initial 200,000 Euros by check, Sica said.
But in a bid to not have the second installment of the commission deposited, Scarano filed a report for a missing 200,000 check, even though he knew Zito had it, Sica said. Carenzio and Zito also were arrested Wednesday along with Scarano, Sica said. When asked how Scarano responded to the accusations, Sica said 'I think that Don Nunzio will respond to the questions.' It is not the only troubles Scarano is facing. Prosecutors in Salerno have placed him under investigation for alleged money-laundering stemming from his account at the Vatican's bank, called the Institute for Religious Works, or IOR. The investigation concerns transactions Scarano, then an official at the Administration for the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, made in 2009 in which he took 560,000 euros ($729,000) in cash out of his personal IOR bank account and carried it out of the Vatican and into Italy to help pay off a mortgage on his Salerno home.
To deposit the money into an Italian bank account - and to prevent family members from finding out he had such a large chunk of cash - he asked 56 close friends to accept 10,000 euros apiece in cash in exchange for a check or money transfer in the same amount, Sica said earlier this week. Scarano was then able to deposit the amounts in his Italian account. The original money came into Scarano's IOR account from donors who gave it to the prelate thinking they were funding a home for the terminally ill in Salerno, Sica said. He said the donors had 'enormous' wealth and could offer such donations for his charitable efforts. He said Scarano had given the names of the donors to prosecutors and insisted the origin of the money was clean, that the transactions didn't constitute money-laundering, and that he only took the money "temporarily" for his personal use. The home for terminally ill hasn't been built, though the property has been identified, Sica said. 'He declares himself absolutely innocent,' Sica said of the Salerno investigation. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told the AP earlier this week that the Vatican is taking the appropriate measures to deal with Scarano's case. There was no further comment Friday from the Vatican about Scarano's arrest. The high profile arrests come just 48 hours after Pope Francis announced the line up for his commission into the Vatican Bank. The so-called ‘Bank of God ‘ has been tarnished by scandal and suspicion for 30 years. Any attempt to investigate by Italian authorities was viewed as an attack on the sovereignty of the Vatican state . Francis said he needed to ensure the bank was running ‘in harmony’ with the church. According to a writ no one is allowed to refuse the commissioners information.
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