VATICAN CITY
Financial Express
Italian investigators have said that the Vatican bank operated in a way that facilitated money laundering, according to leaked papers quoted by two Italian newspapers today following a three-year inquiry.
The bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR in Italian), did not carry out enough checks on its clients and account holders were allowed to transfer large sums on behalf of others.
“There is a high risk that the way the IOR operates, without specifying its real clients, can be used as a screen to hide illegal operations,” prosecutors wrote in a document that was quoted by Corriere della Sera.
They also faulted Italian banks that accepted transfers from the IOR for failing to probe the origin of the money, which is then moved into other banks.
“The IOR can easily become a channel for the laundering of money with a criminal origin, they said.
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