FORMER HEAD OF VATICAN BANK GUILTY OF FINANCIAL CRIMES

A court on Thursday convicted a former head of the Vatican bank of embezzlement and money laundering, making Angelo Caloia the highest-ranking Vatican official to be convicted of a financial crime. Caloia, 81, was president of the bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of religion (IOR), between 1999 and 2009. The Vatican court also convicted Gabriele Liuzzo, 97, and his son Lamberto Liuzzo, 55, both Italian lawyers who were consultants to the bank. The three were charged with participating in a scheme in which they embezzled money while managing the sale of buildings in Italy owned by the bank and its real estate division between 2002-07. They allegedly siphoned off up to $87.5 million by declaring a book value of far less than the actual amount of the sale. Gabriele Liuzzo received the same sentence as Caloia while Lamberto Liuzzo was sentenced to five years and two months. All denied wrongdoing. A fourth defendant, former IOR director general Lelio Scaletti, died several years ago.