Vatican fund probe nets 5

A GUST of wind lifts the cassock of Pope Francis during the weekly general audience on Wednesday at St. Peter’s square in the Vatican. AFP

VATICAN CITY, Holy See (AFP) — Five Vatican employees, including the number two at its anti-money laundering authority, have been suspended following police raids linked to a financial wrongdoing probe, Italian media said Wednesday.

There was no immediate comment from Vatican authorities to the report which came the day after prosecutors seized documents and electronic devices from the offices of two key Vatican departments, the Secretariat of State and the FIA financial authority.

The L’Espresso magazine published a police circular dated Wednesday showing photographs and the positions of the five “suspended as a precaution.”

The circular said Vatican guards should no longer grant access to the five, except for healthcare purposes.

One of those suspended, secretariat head of information and documentation Mgr. Mauro Carlino, will continue to be granted residence in the same hotel complex which is home to Pope Francis.

Also named was FIA director Tommaso Di Ruzza. The FIA is an independent anti-money laundering authority designed to lend transparency to operations by the Institute for the Works of Religion — which acts as the Vatican Bank.

The three others suspended hold administrative posts in the secretariat.