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 “as a precautionary measure.”
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 “commitment to transparency and zero tolerance.”
According to Pullella, “in the freezing order, Milano said Caloia
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