ROME (AP) — A Vatican accountant arrested in a 20 million euro ($26 million) smuggling plot acknowledged Monday during questioning that his behavior was wrong but said he was only trying to help out friends, his lawyer said.
Scarano was arrested Friday with two other people in an elaborate plot to smuggle 20 million euros from a Swiss bank account into Italy by private jet without reporting it to customs officials. It was the latest financial scandal to hit the Vatican and its embattled bank, which has long been regarded as an offshore tax haven prone to scandal.
Sica said Scarano “recognized it wasn’t licit,” but acted to help out his friends.
Prosecutors have identified the friends as Italy’s d’Amico shipping family and said they presumably had the money in Switzerland to avoid paying Italian taxes. The prosecutors have refused to say whether any members of the d’Amico family are under investigation.
In a statement Monday, the family said they are “completely unrelated to such events, in respect of which we will provide all clarifications to the judicial authorities.”
from USA Today: Arrested Vatican monsignor ‘only helping friends’
Bad Vatican 