When Pope Benedict XVI makes lofty statements about the role ethics plays in the economy, he speaks from experience.
Within the Vatican is the only branch of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR), otherwise known as the Vatican bank. Its ATM uses Latin.
Only Vatican employees and religious institutions are allowed to open accounts in the bank — which you’d think would make it the most moral bank in the world.
So why is its chief, economist Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, under investigation for money laundering?
Italy’s Central Bank flagged a 23 million euro transfer from an IOR account in an Italian bank, the Credito Artigiano, to two other accounts as lacking some information now compulsory under EU-mandated anti-money laundering laws. So prosecutors seized the money, froze the IOR account, and opened an investigation.
Detailed report link: here