Jackson, Miss., Feb 6, 2012 / 16:33 pm
A federal court’s dismissal “with prejudice” of a 2002 lawsuit by five U.S. state commissioners against the Holy See shows the Vatican had “nothing to do” with a multi-million dollar criminal scheme against insurance companies, the Holy See’s U.S. attorney Jeffrey Lena said.
The suit charged that the Holy See had engaged in criminal fraud and racketeering in violation of federal law.
The allegations against the Holy See “make good fodder for conspiracy theorists,” said Lena, who added that journalists who “enthusiastically” publicized the allegations should “write with equal vigor upon the cases’ demise.”
State insurance regulators sued the Holy See for $600 million in 2002 in connection with the actions of financier Martin Frankel.