(Crux) A group of conmen who dressed up as cardinals to swindle victims out of millions of dollars have been caught by Italian police, in an undercover sting operation conducted by officers who were disguised as priests.
Members of the Carabinieri, the Italian military police who enjoy broad authority in Italy, set the trap at the Basilica of Holy Mary of Angels and Martyrs in central Rome after receiving complaints from two hotels that were scammed out of 20,000 euros ($23,631) and 75,000 euros ($88,616) in 2017.
Since 1988, the group of five conmen, aged between 58-75, pretended to be priests, monsignors, and even cardinals, presenting themselves as “intermediaries of the Vatican” who could offer business owners in financial trouble, mostly in northern Italy, advantageous loans either from the Vatican bank or a non-existent Luxembourg financial company called “Eurozone,” without requiring personal financial guarantees.
According to Italian newspaper Il Messagero, the group also once set up a fake notary’s office in a building on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, using a plaque and a genuine-seeming studio to convince victims the business was legitimate.
All that was requested of their “investors” was an upfront cash payment, billed as good faith money, which the group would collect before vanishing into thin air.
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