Vatican says bank probe fueled by misunderstanding

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says the seizure by police of euro23 million ($30 million) from a Vatican bank account and the investigation of two top bank officials is due to a misunderstanding that should be clarified quickly.



In a front-page article Wednesday, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano provided details about the investigation, saying it began when the Bank of Italy tipped off authorities to a possible violation of anti-money laundering norms by the Vatican bank.



Italian financial police seized the money as a precaution Tuesday and Rome prosecutors placed the bank's chairman, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, and his director general, Paolo Cipriani, under investigation for alleged mistakes linked to violations of the norms.