Thaindian News

Vatican City, Sep 21 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Prosecutors in Italy have started an enquiry into the Vatican’s top bank executives on Tuesday, on suspicion that they have violated money laundering legislation.

The Vatican has sharply denied the allegations but prosecutors say they have seized more than 23 million Euros, which are reported to belong to the Instituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR) and subsequently opened investigation against the chairman, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi and the CEO Paolo Cipriani.

However the Vatican in a statement released shortly after the announcement expressed shock at the investigation by the prosecutors. The Vatican says such transactions were common and said enough information about the transaction was in the hands of the Bank of Italy.

But prosecutors say they suspect the transaction might have violated a 2007 legislation that required that banks declare information on their financial transactions.

Authorities seized the amount from an Italian bank, Credito Artigiano from the accounts of IOR. The seizure of the account followed a probe into IOR’s operations after the Bank of Italy suspended two operations of IOR on suspicious basis in September.

Gotti Tedeschi is a representative of Spanish banking giant, Santander and he is head of the IOR. The Vatican has declared its support for the two bank executives.