Background on the Vatican's Fraudulent Real Estate Deal in London
Vatican officials last week arrested a man who appears to be at the center of a U.K. real estate scandal that has been a thorn in the side of the Holy See for two years.
Vatican police arrested Italian businessman Gianluigi Torzi for what they called “extortion, embezzlement, aggravated fraud, and self laundering.”
Torzi brokered the Vatican’s purchase of an office building in London, 60 Sloane Avenue, from Italian businessman Raffaele Mincione.
'The Vatican bought the property in stages from 2014 to 2018 and appeared to grossly overpay.
Torzi reportedly made 10 million euros for his role in the deal, according to the Catholic News Agency. The Vatican accused Torzi of extorting the Church and threatening to keep the property.
In late 2018, for a reason that’s perplexed outside parties, the church signed over the property to a company controlled by Torzi.
Mincione is facing criminal proceedings in the Vatican for his role in a deal in which Peter’s Pence assets were used to buy 60 Sloane Avenue, a building in the Knightsbridge district of London.
https://ussanews.com/2022/06/22/fund-manager-files-lawsuit-against-credit-suisse-over-vatican-property-deal-4/