Msgr Scarano sentenced to two years for defamation (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, January 18 - Msgr Nunzio Scarano, a former Vatican financial official on trial for allegedly trying to fly 20 million euros back from Switzerland, was convicted of defamation Monday and given a suspended two-year sentence. A Rome court acquitted him of corruption charges, saying no crime had been committed. Scarano, former accountant of the Holy See's asset-management agency APSA, wound up in jail in June 2013 on charges of corruption. The cases of his two alleged accomplices, former intelligence officer GMZ and broker Giovanni Carenzio, were put into separate proceedings. GMZ, having leased a plane to go to Switzerland, did not reportedly succeed in the mission to bring the money back to Italy. Scarano was accused of defamation for falsely accusing GMZ of stealing a 200,000-euro cheque Scarano gave him as part of the alleged corruption.