Monsignor Nunzio Scarano is facing trial for allegedly being part of a plot to smuggle $30 million out of Switzerland for a wealthy family. Picture: AP Source: AP
A HIGH-ranking Vatican prelate accused of trying to smuggle 20 million euros ($30 million) from Switzerland on behalf of a wealthy family of ship owners has gone on trial in Italy.
Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was arrested in June along with Giovanni Maria Zito, a former intelligence officer, and Giovanni Carinzo, a financial broker.
The arrests came just two days after Pope Francis set up a five-member investigative panel to look into the activities of the Vatican's scandal-tainted bank, the Institute of Religious Works (IOR).
Monsignor Scarano, now under house arrest, is facing charges of corruption and slander.
He is said to have given Mr Zito 400,000 euros to organise the cash transfer, with Mr Carinzo's complicity.
The alleged plot was never completed.
The alleged plot was never completed.
A court in Rome said witnesses from the prosecution would be heard on December 13.
Mr Scarano is also being investigated for money laundering in a separate investigation.
Italian authorities have discovered that he had withdrawn more than 500,000 euros in small quantities from the IOR.
The scandal has cost him his job as accountant at the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), the Vatican's central bank.
Italian media have reported that the prelate led a lavish lifestyle and was known as "Monsignor 500 euros" because of his habit of flashing around big banknotes.
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