Arrested Vatican Official Faces New Laundering Charges

Plot to send millions through Vatican bank

A former Vatican prelate on trial for an alleged plot to smuggle 20 million euros into Italy was further charged on Tuesday with laundering millions through the Vatican bank, police said.

Monsignor Nunzio Scarano and two other people served with arrest warrants were suspected of money laundering and making false statements, police said. The others were Father Luigi Noli, a friend of Scarano suspended from his Vatican job last year, and a notary. Fifty-two others were being investigated.

While the charges had been expected, they were another blow to the image of the Vatican, where Pope Francis has vowed to make Church finances meet global standards of transparency. He has not ruled out closing the bank if it cannot be reformed.