The Vatican’s criminal tribunal has convicted an Italian builder of using his accounts in the Vatican bank to launder money, and sentenced him to 2½ years in prison.
The Vatican press office said the Dec. 17 decision, announced Thursday, marked the first time the Vatican court had handed down a money-laundering verdict since the city state criminalized the offense in 2010 as part of its financial reform efforts.
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Italian police had placed Angelo Proietti under house arrest in 2016 as part of an investigation into the alleged fraudulent bankruptcy of his construction firm Edil Ars Srl, which had done construction work for various Vatican entities.
The Vatican cooperated in the investigation after flagging a suspicious transaction in one of Proietti’s Vatican bank accounts in 2013 and seizing 1 million euros.
