VATICAN CITY: A Vatican court has ordered an Italian businessman jailed for money laundering, a first for the notoriously secret micro-state.
The court ordered Angelo Proietti, 63, jailed for two-and-a-half years, and seized more than a million euros ($1.14 million) that he deposited in an account at the IOR or Vatican bank.
The account has been frozen since the case began in 2014.
Proietti is on trial in Italy for bankruptcy fraud, and was accused of illegally siphoning money from his business to his Vatican account.
He is under house arrest and can appeal the sentence. He would not serve time in the Vatican itself but in an Italian prison as the Vatican only has holding cells.
“This is the first time that this crime has been prosecuted in Vatican jurisprudence,” the seat of the Roman Catholic Church said in a statement Thursday about the December 17 sentence.
The IOR has 15,000 clients, most of whom have connections with the Catholic Church, and manages around 5.7 billion euros in assets.
The Vatican’s bank made headlines following the 1982 death of Roberto Calvi, known as “God’s banker” because of his links to the Holy See, whose corpse was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London.
Prosecutors believe it was a mafia killing linked to money laundering via the bank.
That and other scandals prompted a clean-up in recent years, first under Pope Benedict XVI and then under the current pontiff Pope Francis, with about 5,000 bank accounts closed.
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Vatican hands down first money laundering sentence
Vatican hands down first money laundering sentence
- Proietti is on trial in Italy for bankruptcy fraud, and was accused of illegally siphoning money from his business to his Vatican account
Macron warns of renewed US clashes as he urges EU to use ‘Greenland moment’ to push reforms
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday Europe should brace for further clashes with the US and treat the recent “Greenland moment” as a wake-up call to push through long-delayed economic reforms and strengthen the bloc’s global power. In interviews published on several European newspapers, Macron said Europe should not mistake a lull in tensions with Washington for a lasting shift despite the apparent end of disputes over Greenland, trade and technology.
“When there’s a clear act of aggression, I think what we should do isn’t bow down or try to reach a settlement. I think we’ve tried that strategy for months. It’s not working,” Macron told several papers, including Le Monde and the Financial Times.
Macron said the Trump administration was being “openly anti-European” and seeking the EU’s “dismemberment.”
“The US will, in the coming months — that’s certain — attack us over digital regulation,” Macron added, warning about potential US import tariffs from US President Donald Trump should the EU use its Digital Services Act to control tech companies.
The French leader also renewed his call for fresh common borrowing, such as eurobonds, arguing this would allow the EU to invest at scale and challenge the hegemony of the US dollar.
EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday for a summit where they will discuss measures to strengthen the EU economy and make it better able to stand up to the US and China on the global stage.
“When there’s a clear act of aggression, I think what we should do isn’t bow down or try to reach a settlement. I think we’ve tried that strategy for months. It’s not working,” Macron told several papers, including Le Monde and the Financial Times.
Macron said the Trump administration was being “openly anti-European” and seeking the EU’s “dismemberment.”
“The US will, in the coming months — that’s certain — attack us over digital regulation,” Macron added, warning about potential US import tariffs from US President Donald Trump should the EU use its Digital Services Act to control tech companies.
The French leader also renewed his call for fresh common borrowing, such as eurobonds, arguing this would allow the EU to invest at scale and challenge the hegemony of the US dollar.
EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday for a summit where they will discuss measures to strengthen the EU economy and make it better able to stand up to the US and China on the global stage.
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