Switzerland cooperates with Vatican fraud investigation
The justice ministry has sent initial documents to the
Vatican as part of an investigation into suspected bribery and money laundering
related to a London property deal in which some Swiss banks are said to be
involved.
This is according to information obtained by the
German-language paper NZZ am Sonntagexternal link, which confirmed with justice
ministry spokesperson Raphael Frei that it received the request for legal
assistance in this matter in a “diplomatic note dated April 30, 2020” from the
Vatican.
The case dates back to 2012 when the State Secretariat of
the Vatican decided to invest an estimated CHF300 million ($310 million) in a
property in London with plans to build luxury apartments.
The funds from the Holy See are said to have been invested
by Italian investment manager Raffaele Mincione who has ties to Switzerland
including a residence and investments in luxury hotels in the country. Swiss
banks, including Credit Suisse were also involved in the deal.
The Vatican’s prosecutor opened an investigation into the
funds last October after it emerged that some of the money invested came from
donations to the Peter’s Pence charitable collection. There was also suspicion
of bribery and money laundering by Vatican employees. Last November, the Pope
called the revelations a “scandal”.
According to the newspaper, the justice ministry did not
provide more information about what precisely was requested. An unnamed source
confirmed to the paper that funds have been blocked at Swiss banks, but it is
not known which ones and who owns the accounts.
Credit Suisse spokesperson Anitta Tuure told the paper that
"Credit Suisse is not the subject of the Vatican's investigation, but is
working with the authorities to comply with applicable regulations”.
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