VATICAN CITY
Reuters
BY PHILIP PULLELLA
VATICAN CITY Fri Mar 28, 2014
(Reuters) – In a new blow for the troubled Vatican bank, lawyers for its former head who was abruptly fired in 2012 threatened legal action on Friday to clear his name and show that he was unfairly dismissed.
The surprise move by lawyers for Ettore Gotti Tedeschi came after months of relative calm for the Vatican bank under its new president, German Ernst Von Freyberg.
Gotti Tedeschi was ousted after a no confidence vote by its lay board on May 24 at the height of the “Vatileaks” scandal, in which former Pope Benedict’s butler leaked the pontiff’s personal papers to the media.
The board said Gotti Tedeschi was fired because he was an ineffective and divisive manager. He said he was ousted because he wanted to introduce more transparency to the bank, which has been an embarrassment for the Vatican for decades.
Gotti Tedeschi had been under investigation by Rome magistrates on suspicion of money laundering, but last month a judge ruled that the case against him be shelved.
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