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| AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca |
July 17, 2012
http://www.businessinsider.com/vatican-bank-new-investigation-targets-mafia-links-2012-6
June 14, 2012, 11:54 AM
New reports detailing widespread corruption and money laundering in the Vatican are coming out again, this time linking the Vatican with Sicilian mafia bosses, the Telegraph reports.
Sicilian mafia Godfather Matteo Messina Denaro and Father Ninni Treppiedi are the two names being mentioned in this episode.
Treppiedi, formerly the cleric of Aclamo, the richest parish in mafia safe haven Sicily, was relieved of his duties earlier this year when his bank's transactions attracted the attention of anti-mafia investigators. The transactions, which date back to 2007-2009, are said to involve millions of euros, according to RT.
Prosecutors believe the transactions may have been attempts at laundering the riches of Mafia Godfather Denaro. Denaro is said to be one of the most wanted men on earth, and has something of a celebrity status in Italy (he appeared on the cover of l'Espresso in 2001).
This latest development comes on the heels of the firing of Vatican Bank president Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the arrest and imprisonment of the Pope's personal butler, and a report that mob boss Enrico de Pedis was buried next to former popes after his family paid one billion lire to the Vatican in 1990.
The lack of transparency in the Vatican's financial dealings was even recently questioned by JPMorgan Chase, shutting down the Vatican's bank account in Chase's Milan branch.
