Vatican Monsignor Suspected of Money Laundering A Vatican monsignor already on trial for plotting to smuggle $26 million from Switzerland to Italy was arrested Tuesday in a separate case, suspected of using his Vatican bank accounts to launder money. The financial police in Salerno said Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, known as "Monsignor 500" for his purported favored bank notes, had transferred millions in fictitious donations from offshore companies through his accounts at the Vatican's Institute for Religious Works. Acting on evidence provided by the Vatican bank, the police said, they seized real estate and assets in Italian bank accounts on Tuesday, including Monsignor Scarano's luxurious Salerno apartment. Police said that in all, 52 people were under investigation. Monsignor Scarano's lawyer, Silverio Sica, said his client had merely taken donations from people he thought were acting in good faith to fund a home for the terminally ill. He conceded, however, that Monsignor Scarano had used the money to pay off a mortgage.