Spain smashes ring impersonating Vatican bank

Spanish police said Friday they had smashed a ring that allegedly operated a fake branch of the Vatican Bank and swindled people around the world.

Officers arrested three Spaniards and a Colombian suspected of operating the phoney branch in Fuengirola near the posh sea resort of Marbella, police said in a statement.

The group "usurped the identity, symbols and image" of the bank, which does not have an office outside Vatican City, to obtain "huge profits" from contracts signed with "a lot of companies around the world" to develop "commercial relations and provide financial advice," it said.

The group's office in Fuengirola features the shield of the Vatican on its glass door and is decorated with statue depicting the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus in her arms.