ROME
Boston Herald
Associated Press Monday, January 18, 2016
ROME — A court in Rome Monday acquitted an Italian monsignor, who was fired from his job as a Vatican accountant, of corruption, a defense lawyer for the priest said.
According to prosecutors, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was involved in a plot to use a private plane to try to smuggle 20 million euros (about $22 million) from Switzerland into Italy in a tax-evasion scheme. They suspected the money had been deposited in Switzerland to avoid Italian taxes.
A lawyer for Scarano, Silverio Sica, confirmed Italian news reports that the court acquitted his client of corruption but convicted him on a slander charge and gave him a suspended two-year sentence. The monsignor had denied any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors alleged that a former intelligence agent and a financial broker were part of the plot along with Scarano. The ex-agent, who allegedly had rented a plane to fly to Switzerland to get the money, never was able to carry out the mission, prosecutors contended. During the trial, the cases involving the ex-agent and the broker were separated from Scarano’s case.
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