Vatican accused of secret money-laundering tool as Pope Leo faces financial crisis
By isabelle // 2025-08-13
Copy
 
  • Former Vatican auditor Libero Milone alleges the Holy See’s payroll agency had a secret tool to alter bank transfers, enabling money laundering by masking sender and recipient details.
  • The Vatican denies the claims, calling them unfounded, while SWIFT experts say such manipulation is impossible, but Milone insists he saw evidence of tampering before his forced resignation in 2017.
  • Milone, ousted after uncovering financial misconduct tied to convicted Cardinal Becciu, claims he possesses proof of the Vatican’s ability to change transaction details post-processing.
  • The scandal revives the Vatican’s history of financial corruption, including the 1980s Mafia-linked IOR scandal and Becciu’s 2023 embezzlement conviction, despite Pope Francis’ reforms.
  • Pope Leo XIV now faces mounting pressure to restore trust as deficits grow and donors question the Vatican’s financial transparency amid explosive new allegations.
The Vatican has long been associated with corruption, and now it finds itself embroiled in explosive new allegations that its financial system was rigged to facilitate money laundering through a secret tool capable of altering bank transfers after they were processed. The claims, made by former Vatican auditor Libero Milone, suggest the city-state’s payroll agency, APSA, had the power to change names and account numbers on transactions, effectively masking the identities of senders and recipients. If true, this would represent a brazen violation of international anti-fraud laws and further tarnish the Catholic Church’s already scandal-plagued financial reputation. The Vatican has vehemently denied the allegations, calling them "completely unfounded," while SWIFT banking experts insist such manipulation is technically impossible. But with Milone’s credibility as a former Deloitte executive and the Vatican’s long history of financial misconduct, the accusations threaten to derail Pope Leo XIV’s efforts to restore trust in the Holy See’s finances.

A whistleblower silenced

The allegations stem from Milone, who was appointed by the late Pope Francis in 2015 to clean up the Vatican’s finances after years of mismanagement and corruption. His tenure was cut short in 2017 when he was forced to resign after being accused of spying by senior officials—a charge he denies. Milone claims he was ousted because he uncovered financial wrongdoing tied to disgraced Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was later convicted of embezzlement in 2023. In a press conference last week, Milone stood by his claims, stating, “I have a piece of paper which says that they can change the transactions—they can change the name—at any time.” He refused to provide additional documentation but hinted at possessing further damaging evidence, insisting, “I'm not trying to blackmail anyone.” His allegations were first reported by The Pillar, a Catholic news outlet, which described the alleged tool as a “skeleton key for money laundering” that could land the Vatican on an international financial blacklist if proven.

The Vatican insists it did nothing wrong

The Vatican has dismissed Milone’s claims as baseless. Spokesperson Matteo Bruni stated the allegations were “completely unfounded” and pointed to audits by watchdog ASIF and PricewaterhouseCoopers between 2020 and 2024 that found “no anomalies.” A SWIFT insider, speaking anonymously, told POLITICO that altering payment messages after transmission is impossible due to encryption and digital signatures. Yet skepticism remains. APSA, the Vatican’s payroll agency, closed personal accounts in 2015 to evade oversight by Moneyval, Europe’s anti-money-laundering watchdog. Critics argue the alleged tools could have been used before that date, or even afterward to conceal illicit transactions. Milone admits he doesn’t know how the system bypassed SWIFT’s safeguards but insists he saw evidence of tampering.

A long history of financial scandals

The allegations resurface decades of financial misconduct tied to the Vatican. In the 1980s, the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), the Vatican’s bank, was implicated in laundering funds for the Mafia and far-right political groups. The scandal culminated in the mysterious death of Roberto Calvi, “God’s banker,” found hanging under London’s Blackfriars Bridge in 1982. More recently, Cardinal Becciu was convicted in 2023 for embezzling Vatican funds, including a disastrous London real estate deal that cost the church more than €100 million. Pope Francis attempted reforms, stripping the Secretariat of State of investment powers and securing Moneyval’s highest anti-money-laundering rating in 2021. But deficits persist, with the Holy See reporting an €83 million shortfall in 2024. Pope Leo XIV, elected in May 2025, now faces the daunting task of balancing the books while restoring donor confidence, particularly among wealthy American Catholics. As the Vatican scrambles to dismiss Milone’s claims, the broader question remains: Can Pope Leo XIV finally bring transparency to an institution long shrouded in financial secrecy? With budget deficits widening and trust eroding, the new pontiff’s ability to root out corruption (or suppress whistleblowers) will determine whether the Vatican can escape its scandal-ridden past. Sources for this article include: Politico.eu DailySignal.com AlJazeera.com
Copy