Vatican under investigation - 5,000 bank accounts closed

Exactly 4,935 accounts were closed on suspicion of insider trading and tax evasion.

Vatican auditors closed nearly 5,000 suspected Vatican bank accounts on suspicion of tax evasion.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The scandal includes a three-year investigation of 544 suspected transactions mainly involving tax evasion.

To meet international standards, previous Pope Benedict XVI established the Financial Information Authority (FIA) in 2010 specifically to reduce the risk of questionable account usage.

Institute of Religious Works (IOR) accounts have come under fire before after being accused of being linked to mafia activities in the 1980s.

Following the creation of FIA, the IOR has come under suspicion once again.

FIA President Rene Brulhart noted the number of suspicious transactions has tripled since 2014, but admitted it was likely due to better FIA monitoring.

"In a process like this you always set a low threshold for reporting to create awareness," he stated. "I hope in 2016 the figure will be back to normal. Of course ideally we would like a zero figure but that is not realistic."

Interestingly, FIA revealed thousands of IOR accounts held by people with no connection to the Church or its charitable endeavors.

In response to the shocking discoveries, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were appointed to audit Vatican books and clean the filth from the IOR.

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