A Vatican official was arrested Friday after being implicated in a plot to smuggle millions of euros into Italy from Switzerland using the Vatican bank.
The official, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, has been accused of conspiring in 2012 to move approximately $26 million in funds out of a Vatican bank illegally , reports the New York Times .
Two others have been arrested for their roles in the scheme, including a financial broker and a man working in the Italian Secret Service.
Sounding like something out of a spy movie, the trio carefully planned to funnel millions in illegal funds from Switzerland into Italy.
The plan? Load up a private plane with 20 million euros in hard cash and fly it to the Vatican. There, with some careful manipulation of the bank records, the money would then be withdrawn and smuggled into Italy.
According to Reuters, the three went to some lengths to conceal their scheme, including burning their cell phones. However, disagreements and bickering lead the three to postpone the caper.
A recent law enforcement report claims that Monsignor Scarano was at the center of the plot, believing he would be immune to legal trouble because of his position at the Vatican bank.
The Vatican official was arrested, along with his co-conspirators, after an on-going investigation into the Vatican bank’s records revealed errors that some had previously attributed to Scarano.
Italian law enforcement spent many months collecting evidence from the trio, revealing mountains of emails, tapped phone conversations, checks, and more.
A spokesman at the Vatican have commented on the arrest, stating that Scarano was suspended from his position at the bank almost a month ago after his superiors became aware of a police investigation into the monsignor.
In recent times European and US law enforcement agencies have made a concerted effort to target institutions, like Swiss banks, known to shelter illegal money.
More details are expected to come out after the Vatican official’s arrest , who investigators expect to be proven to have a pattern of using his position at the bank to operate criminal schemes.
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