{"id":9157,"date":"2014-12-08T19:22:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T19:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen-97364\/"},"modified":"2014-12-08T19:22:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-08T19:22:00","slug":"amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid investigation, accounts of former Vatican Bank directors frozen"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/The_Institute_for_Religious_Works_or_the_Vatican_Bank_as_it_is_commonly_known_June_28_2013_File_Photo_CNA_CNA_Catholic_News_6_28_13.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Vatican City, Dec 8, 2014 \/ 12:22 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- More than $19.6 million in the accounts of two former managers of the Institute for Religious Works, commonly known as the Vatican Bank or IOR, have been frozen by a Vatican prosecutor in the course of an investigation, it was announced Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\tAt a Dec. 6 press conference, Holy See press officer Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed that Gian Piero Milano, promoter of justice for Vatican City State, was investigating two former IOR directors regarding suspected embezzlement between 2001 and 2008.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe investigation is based on suspicions aroused during a 2013 internal review, part of ongoing financial reform at the Vatican aimed at transparency and tackling money laundering.<\/p>\n<p>\tFr. Lombardi added that the accounts of those under investigation were frozen \u201cas a precautionary measure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tWriting for Reuters on Saturday, Philip Pullella said Milano suspected Angelo Caloia, a former president of the IOR; Lelio Scaletti, its former director general; and Gabriele Liuzzo, a lawyer, of embezzlement of funds relating to the sale of 29 buildings which had been sold by the institution.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe IOR announced that it was pressing charges against the three in keeping with its \u201ccommitment to transparency and zero tolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tAccording to Pullella, \u201cin the freezing order, Milano said Caloia and Scaletti regularly under-represented the proceeds from real estate sales in the Vatican Bank\u2019s official books. The men allegedly received the difference between the real sale prices and the amount officially recorded separately and often in cash, according to the order.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tMilano charges that over the seven-year period, the three embezzled more than $70.2 million in this way.<\/p>\n<p>\tFinancial reform at the Vatican is being headed by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the recently-established Secretariat for the Economy.<\/p>\n<p>\tIn a Dec. 4 article for the Catholic Herald, he wrote that the principles at the heart of his reform are the adoption of international financial standards, transparency, and a separation of powers.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe normalization of Vatican finances was begun in 2010 by Benedict XVI, the cardinal noted, with the establishment of the Financial Information Authority, an agency \u201cdedicated to preventing and eradicating money laundering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tPope Francis has continued this process of reforms, Cardinal Pell noted, \u201cwhich are well under way and already past the point where it would be possible to return to the 'bad old days'. Much remains to be done, but the primary structural reforms are in place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tContinuing reform, he noted, is \u201cdesigned to make all Vatican financial agencies boringly successful, so that they do not merit much press attention.\u201d<br>\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=k0_g4c1vGMg:AKqUM0XhjSg:yIl2AUoC8zA\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/k0_g4c1vGMg\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/The_Institute_for_Religious_Works_or_the_Vatican_Bank_as_it_is_commonly_known_June_28_2013_File_Photo_CNA_CNA_Catholic_News_6_28_13.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Vatican City, Dec 8, 2014 \/ 12:22 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" target=\"_self\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- More than $19.6 million in the accounts of two former managers of the Institute for Religious Works, commonly known as the Vatican Bank or IOR, have been frozen by a Vatican prosecutor in the course of an investigation, it was announced Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\tAt a Dec. 6 press conference, Holy See press officer Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed that Gian Piero Milano, promoter of justice for Vatican City State, was investigating two former IOR directors regarding suspected embezzlement between 2001 and 2008.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe investigation is based on suspicions aroused during a 2013 internal review, part of ongoing financial reform at the Vatican aimed at transparency and tackling money laundering.<\/p>\n<p>\tFr. Lombardi added that the accounts of those under investigation were frozen &ldquo;as a precautionary measure.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>\tWriting for Reuters on Saturday, Philip Pullella said Milano suspected Angelo Caloia, a former president of the IOR; Lelio Scaletti, its former director general; and Gabriele Liuzzo, a lawyer, of embezzlement of funds relating to the sale of 29 buildings which had been sold by the institution.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe IOR announced that it was pressing charges against the three in keeping with its &ldquo;commitment to transparency and zero tolerance.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>\tAccording to Pullella, &ldquo;in the freezing order, Milano said Caloia and Scaletti regularly under-represented the proceeds from real estate sales in the Vatican Bank&rsquo;s official books. The men allegedly received the difference between the real sale prices and the amount officially recorded separately and often in cash, according to the order.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>\tMilano charges that over the seven-year period, the three embezzled more than $70.2 million in this way.<\/p>\n<p>\tFinancial reform at the Vatican is being headed by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the recently-established Secretariat for the Economy.<\/p>\n<p>\tIn a Dec. 4 article for the Catholic Herald, he wrote that the principles at the heart of his reform are the adoption of international financial standards, transparency, and a separation of powers.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe normalization of Vatican finances was begun in 2010 by Benedict XVI, the cardinal noted, with the establishment of the Financial Information Authority, an agency &ldquo;dedicated to preventing and eradicating money laundering.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>\tPope Francis has continued this process of reforms, Cardinal Pell noted, &ldquo;which are well under way and already past the point where it would be possible to return to the &#8216;bad old days&#8217;. Much remains to be done, but the primary structural reforms are in place.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>\tContinuing reform, he noted, is &ldquo;designed to make all Vatican financial agencies boringly successful, so that they do not merit much press attention.&rdquo;<br \/>\n\t&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=k0_g4c1vGMg:AKqUM0XhjSg:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/k0_g4c1vGMg\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Amid investigation, accounts of former Vatican Bank directors frozen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Dec 8, 2014 \/ 12:22 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than $19.6 million in the accounts of two former managers of the Institute for Religious Works, commonly known as the Vatican Bank or IOR, have been frozen by a Vatican prosecutor in the course of an investigation, it was announced Sunday. At a Dec. 6 press conference, Holy See press officer Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed that Gian Piero Milano, promoter of justice for Vatican City State, was investigating two former IOR directors regarding suspected embezzlement between 2001 and 2008. The investigation is based on suspicions aroused during a 2013 internal review, part of ongoing financial reform at the Vatican aimed at transparency and tackling money laundering. Fr. Lombardi added that the accounts of those under investigation were frozen &ldquo;as a precautionary measure.&rdquo; Writing for Reuters on Saturday, Philip Pullella said Milano suspected Angelo Caloia, a former president of the IOR; Lelio Scaletti, its former director general; and Gabriele Liuzzo, a lawyer, of embezzlement of funds relating to the sale of 29 buildings which had been sold by the institution. The IOR announced that it was pressing charges against the three in keeping with its &ldquo;commitment to transparency and zero tolerance.&rdquo; According to Pullella, &ldquo;in the freezing order, Milano said Caloia and Scaletti regularly under-represented the proceeds from real estate sales in the Vatican Bank&rsquo;s official books. The men allegedly received the difference between the real sale prices and the amount officially recorded separately and often in cash, according to the order.&rdquo; Milano charges that over the seven-year period, the three embezzled more than $70.2 million in this way. Financial reform at the Vatican is being headed by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the recently-established Secretariat for the Economy. In a Dec. 4 article for the Catholic Herald, he wrote that the principles at the heart of his reform are the adoption of international financial standards, transparency, and a separation of powers. The normalization of Vatican finances was begun in 2010 by Benedict XVI, the cardinal noted, with the establishment of the Financial Information Authority, an agency &ldquo;dedicated to preventing and eradicating money laundering.&rdquo; Pope Francis has continued this process of reforms, Cardinal Pell noted, &ldquo;which are well under way and already past the point where it would be possible to return to the &#039;bad old days&#039;. Much remains to be done, but the primary structural reforms are in place.&rdquo; Continuing reform, he noted, is &ldquo;designed to make all Vatican financial agencies boringly successful, so that they do not merit much press attention.&rdquo; &nbsp;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amid investigation, accounts of former Vatican Bank directors frozen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vatican City, Dec 8, 2014 \/ 12:22 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than $19.6 million in the accounts of two former managers of the Institute for Religious Works, commonly known as the Vatican Bank or IOR, have been frozen by a Vatican prosecutor in the course of an investigation, it was announced Sunday. At a Dec. 6 press conference, Holy See press officer Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed that Gian Piero Milano, promoter of justice for Vatican City State, was investigating two former IOR directors regarding suspected embezzlement between 2001 and 2008. The investigation is based on suspicions aroused during a 2013 internal review, part of ongoing financial reform at the Vatican aimed at transparency and tackling money laundering. Fr. Lombardi added that the accounts of those under investigation were frozen &ldquo;as a precautionary measure.&rdquo; Writing for Reuters on Saturday, Philip Pullella said Milano suspected Angelo Caloia, a former president of the IOR; Lelio Scaletti, its former director general; and Gabriele Liuzzo, a lawyer, of embezzlement of funds relating to the sale of 29 buildings which had been sold by the institution. The IOR announced that it was pressing charges against the three in keeping with its &ldquo;commitment to transparency and zero tolerance.&rdquo; According to Pullella, &ldquo;in the freezing order, Milano said Caloia and Scaletti regularly under-represented the proceeds from real estate sales in the Vatican Bank&rsquo;s official books. The men allegedly received the difference between the real sale prices and the amount officially recorded separately and often in cash, according to the order.&rdquo; Milano charges that over the seven-year period, the three embezzled more than $70.2 million in this way. Financial reform at the Vatican is being headed by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the recently-established Secretariat for the Economy. In a Dec. 4 article for the Catholic Herald, he wrote that the principles at the heart of his reform are the adoption of international financial standards, transparency, and a separation of powers. The normalization of Vatican finances was begun in 2010 by Benedict XVI, the cardinal noted, with the establishment of the Financial Information Authority, an agency &ldquo;dedicated to preventing and eradicating money laundering.&rdquo; Pope Francis has continued this process of reforms, Cardinal Pell noted, &ldquo;which are well under way and already past the point where it would be possible to return to the &#039;bad old days&#039;. Much remains to be done, but the primary structural reforms are in place.&rdquo; Continuing reform, he noted, is &ldquo;designed to make all Vatican financial agencies boringly successful, so that they do not merit much press attention.&rdquo; &nbsp;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-08T19:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/The_Institute_for_Religious_Works_or_the_Vatican_Bank_as_it_is_commonly_known_June_28_2013_File_Photo_CNA_CNA_Catholic_News_6_28_13.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/\",\"name\":\"Amid investigation, accounts of former Vatican Bank directors frozen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-08T19:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-08T19:22:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Vatican City, Dec 8, 2014 \/ 12:22 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than $19.6 million in the accounts of two former managers of the Institute for Religious Works, commonly known as the Vatican Bank or IOR, have been frozen by a Vatican prosecutor in the course of an investigation, it was announced Sunday. At a Dec. 6 press conference, Holy See press officer Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed that Gian Piero Milano, promoter of justice for Vatican City State, was investigating two former IOR directors regarding suspected embezzlement between 2001 and 2008. The investigation is based on suspicions aroused during a 2013 internal review, part of ongoing financial reform at the Vatican aimed at transparency and tackling money laundering. Fr. Lombardi added that the accounts of those under investigation were frozen &ldquo;as a precautionary measure.&rdquo; Writing for Reuters on Saturday, Philip Pullella said Milano suspected Angelo Caloia, a former president of the IOR; Lelio Scaletti, its former director general; and Gabriele Liuzzo, a lawyer, of embezzlement of funds relating to the sale of 29 buildings which had been sold by the institution. The IOR announced that it was pressing charges against the three in keeping with its &ldquo;commitment to transparency and zero tolerance.&rdquo; According to Pullella, &ldquo;in the freezing order, Milano said Caloia and Scaletti regularly under-represented the proceeds from real estate sales in the Vatican Bank&rsquo;s official books. The men allegedly received the difference between the real sale prices and the amount officially recorded separately and often in cash, according to the order.&rdquo; Milano charges that over the seven-year period, the three embezzled more than $70.2 million in this way. Financial reform at the Vatican is being headed by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the recently-established Secretariat for the Economy. In a Dec. 4 article for the Catholic Herald, he wrote that the principles at the heart of his reform are the adoption of international financial standards, transparency, and a separation of powers. The normalization of Vatican finances was begun in 2010 by Benedict XVI, the cardinal noted, with the establishment of the Financial Information Authority, an agency &ldquo;dedicated to preventing and eradicating money laundering.&rdquo; Pope Francis has continued this process of reforms, Cardinal Pell noted, &ldquo;which are well under way and already past the point where it would be possible to return to the 'bad old days'. 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At a Dec. 6 press conference, Holy See press officer Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed that Gian Piero Milano, promoter of justice for Vatican City State, was investigating two former IOR directors regarding suspected embezzlement between 2001 and 2008. The investigation is based on suspicions aroused during a 2013 internal review, part of ongoing financial reform at the Vatican aimed at transparency and tackling money laundering. Fr. Lombardi added that the accounts of those under investigation were frozen &ldquo;as a precautionary measure.&rdquo; Writing for Reuters on Saturday, Philip Pullella said Milano suspected Angelo Caloia, a former president of the IOR; Lelio Scaletti, its former director general; and Gabriele Liuzzo, a lawyer, of embezzlement of funds relating to the sale of 29 buildings which had been sold by the institution. The IOR announced that it was pressing charges against the three in keeping with its &ldquo;commitment to transparency and zero tolerance.&rdquo; According to Pullella, &ldquo;in the freezing order, Milano said Caloia and Scaletti regularly under-represented the proceeds from real estate sales in the Vatican Bank&rsquo;s official books. The men allegedly received the difference between the real sale prices and the amount officially recorded separately and often in cash, according to the order.&rdquo; Milano charges that over the seven-year period, the three embezzled more than $70.2 million in this way. Financial reform at the Vatican is being headed by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the recently-established Secretariat for the Economy. In a Dec. 4 article for the Catholic Herald, he wrote that the principles at the heart of his reform are the adoption of international financial standards, transparency, and a separation of powers. The normalization of Vatican finances was begun in 2010 by Benedict XVI, the cardinal noted, with the establishment of the Financial Information Authority, an agency &ldquo;dedicated to preventing and eradicating money laundering.&rdquo; Pope Francis has continued this process of reforms, Cardinal Pell noted, &ldquo;which are well under way and already past the point where it would be possible to return to the 'bad old days'. Much remains to be done, but the primary structural reforms are in place.&rdquo; Continuing reform, he noted, is &ldquo;designed to make all Vatican financial agencies boringly successful, so that they do not merit much press attention.&rdquo; &nbsp;","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Amid investigation, accounts of former Vatican Bank directors frozen","og_description":"Vatican City, Dec 8, 2014 \/ 12:22 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than $19.6 million in the accounts of two former managers of the Institute for Religious Works, commonly known as the Vatican Bank or IOR, have been frozen by a Vatican prosecutor in the course of an investigation, it was announced Sunday. At a Dec. 6 press conference, Holy See press officer Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed that Gian Piero Milano, promoter of justice for Vatican City State, was investigating two former IOR directors regarding suspected embezzlement between 2001 and 2008. The investigation is based on suspicions aroused during a 2013 internal review, part of ongoing financial reform at the Vatican aimed at transparency and tackling money laundering. Fr. Lombardi added that the accounts of those under investigation were frozen &ldquo;as a precautionary measure.&rdquo; Writing for Reuters on Saturday, Philip Pullella said Milano suspected Angelo Caloia, a former president of the IOR; Lelio Scaletti, its former director general; and Gabriele Liuzzo, a lawyer, of embezzlement of funds relating to the sale of 29 buildings which had been sold by the institution. The IOR announced that it was pressing charges against the three in keeping with its &ldquo;commitment to transparency and zero tolerance.&rdquo; According to Pullella, &ldquo;in the freezing order, Milano said Caloia and Scaletti regularly under-represented the proceeds from real estate sales in the Vatican Bank&rsquo;s official books. The men allegedly received the difference between the real sale prices and the amount officially recorded separately and often in cash, according to the order.&rdquo; Milano charges that over the seven-year period, the three embezzled more than $70.2 million in this way. Financial reform at the Vatican is being headed by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the recently-established Secretariat for the Economy. In a Dec. 4 article for the Catholic Herald, he wrote that the principles at the heart of his reform are the adoption of international financial standards, transparency, and a separation of powers. The normalization of Vatican finances was begun in 2010 by Benedict XVI, the cardinal noted, with the establishment of the Financial Information Authority, an agency &ldquo;dedicated to preventing and eradicating money laundering.&rdquo; Pope Francis has continued this process of reforms, Cardinal Pell noted, &ldquo;which are well under way and already past the point where it would be possible to return to the 'bad old days'. Much remains to be done, but the primary structural reforms are in place.&rdquo; Continuing reform, he noted, is &ldquo;designed to make all Vatican financial agencies boringly successful, so that they do not merit much press attention.&rdquo; &nbsp;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2014-12-08T19:22:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/The_Institute_for_Religious_Works_or_the_Vatican_Bank_as_it_is_commonly_known_June_28_2013_File_Photo_CNA_CNA_Catholic_News_6_28_13.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/","name":"Amid investigation, accounts of former Vatican Bank directors frozen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-12-08T19:22:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-08T19:22:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Vatican City, Dec 8, 2014 \/ 12:22 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than $19.6 million in the accounts of two former managers of the Institute for Religious Works, commonly known as the Vatican Bank or IOR, have been frozen by a Vatican prosecutor in the course of an investigation, it was announced Sunday. At a Dec. 6 press conference, Holy See press officer Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed that Gian Piero Milano, promoter of justice for Vatican City State, was investigating two former IOR directors regarding suspected embezzlement between 2001 and 2008. The investigation is based on suspicions aroused during a 2013 internal review, part of ongoing financial reform at the Vatican aimed at transparency and tackling money laundering. Fr. Lombardi added that the accounts of those under investigation were frozen &ldquo;as a precautionary measure.&rdquo; Writing for Reuters on Saturday, Philip Pullella said Milano suspected Angelo Caloia, a former president of the IOR; Lelio Scaletti, its former director general; and Gabriele Liuzzo, a lawyer, of embezzlement of funds relating to the sale of 29 buildings which had been sold by the institution. The IOR announced that it was pressing charges against the three in keeping with its &ldquo;commitment to transparency and zero tolerance.&rdquo; According to Pullella, &ldquo;in the freezing order, Milano said Caloia and Scaletti regularly under-represented the proceeds from real estate sales in the Vatican Bank&rsquo;s official books. The men allegedly received the difference between the real sale prices and the amount officially recorded separately and often in cash, according to the order.&rdquo; Milano charges that over the seven-year period, the three embezzled more than $70.2 million in this way. Financial reform at the Vatican is being headed by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the recently-established Secretariat for the Economy. In a Dec. 4 article for the Catholic Herald, he wrote that the principles at the heart of his reform are the adoption of international financial standards, transparency, and a separation of powers. The normalization of Vatican finances was begun in 2010 by Benedict XVI, the cardinal noted, with the establishment of the Financial Information Authority, an agency &ldquo;dedicated to preventing and eradicating money laundering.&rdquo; Pope Francis has continued this process of reforms, Cardinal Pell noted, &ldquo;which are well under way and already past the point where it would be possible to return to the 'bad old days'. Much remains to be done, but the primary structural reforms are in place.&rdquo; Continuing reform, he noted, is &ldquo;designed to make all Vatican financial agencies boringly successful, so that they do not merit much press attention.&rdquo; &nbsp;","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/12\/amid-investigation-accounts-of-former-vatican-bank-directors-frozen\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Amid investigation, accounts of former Vatican Bank directors frozen"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}