Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Cindy Wooden December 27, 2018
Photo by Mauricio Artieda on Unsplash

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican City State court sentenced an Italian contractor, who had done work for several Vatican offices, to 2 1/2 years in jail for using a Vatican bank account for money laundering.

The conviction and sentencing of Angelo Proietti, 63, was handed down Dec. 17 and announced by the Vatican press office Dec. 27; his lawyer told the Wall Street Journal he would appeal.

The Vatican court also ordered the confiscation of the more than 1 million euros ($1.14 million) Proietti had in his account at the Institute for the Works of Religion, the formal name of the Vatican bank. The court had frozen the account in 2014 as both Italian and Vatican law enforcement were investigating his actions.

The conviction is the first concluded under Vatican City State laws enacted by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism through accounts at the Vatican bank.

Italian authorities put Proietti under house arrest in 2016 as they investigated the bankruptcy filings of Edil Ars, his company that specialized in construction, remodeling projects and art restoration. According to news reports, it is believed that Proietti used his Vatican bank account to hide millions of euros that belonged to the bankrupt company.

The laws against money laundering and the financing of terrorism were part of a Vatican effort, which is ongoing, to ensure the Vatican bank and other Vatican financial operations were transparent and could not be used for tax evasion or other crimes.

The project included tightening the rules governing who could have an account at the Vatican, resulting in the closure of thousands of accounts of those who no longer qualified. Individuals holding accounts now must be Vatican employees or retirees or diplomats accredited to the Holy See. Bishops' conferences, dioceses, religious orders and other official Catholic works also may have accounts.

More: Vatican
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

A Reflection for the Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time, by Ashley McKinless
Ashley McKinlessJuly 08, 2025
No one ever expected a U.S.-born pope. In this first-ever I “Inside the Vatican” Deep Dive series, those who know him best reveal who Pope Leo XIV—“the American pope”—really is. In Episode 1, we hear from the genealogist who uncovered his Louisiana roots, a teacher, and fellow Augustinian friars
Inside the VaticanJuly 08, 2025
The Vatican Synod office has released a set of guidelines for local churches and bishops to implement the proposals of the recent Synod on Synodality.
When Miami native Tom Llamas was named “NBC Nightly News” anchor following the retirement of Lester Holt, one of the first phone calls he placed was to the rector/president of his Jesuit high school alma mater.