by Samuel Blackstone
June 14, 2012
from
BusinessInsider Website
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.
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