Vatican’s former audit chief launches €9.3mn authorized case over dismissal

The Vatican’s former chief auditor and his deputy, who have been dismissed in 2017 after making an attempt to research the Catholic church’s “off the books” Swiss financial institution accounts, have launched a €9.3mn authorized motion in opposition to the Holy See.

Libero Milone and his quantity two Ferruccio Panicco are claiming damages for misplaced earnings, emotional misery and lack of fame over how they have been pressured from their jobs after being accused of misconduct. They have been later publicly accused by then-powerful Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu of spying on the non-public lives of their Holy See superiors, together with Becciu himself.

Milone, a former head of Deloitte Italy, had been picked in 2015 to ascertain an auditor-general’s workplace for the Holy See, as Pope Francis sought to scrub up the church’s monetary affairs, together with administration of hundreds of thousands of euros in charitable contributions from Catholic devoted all over the world.

However Milone mentioned he and his staff have been stonewalled of their requests for particulars of Vatican-owned, Swiss financial institution accounts later discovered to have been utilized by the Holy See to speculate about £300mn between 2014 and 2018 in a luxurious property improvement in central London. The transactions have been authorised by the Vatican secretariat, of which Becciu was the second-in-command.

Although Vatican authorities claimed there was “irrefutable proof” in opposition to Milone on the time of his departure, they subsequently shelved the case however by no means publicly exonerated him.

Milone, who has at all times denied wrongdoing, mentioned the episode successfully destroyed his skilled life and fame.

“I’m placed on the cross as a result of I did the correct issues,” Milone instructed reporters at a briefing in his lawyer’s workplace this week. “There’s a small mafia within the Vatican that tries to dam any change and hold issues as they’re . . . They nonetheless dwell within the medieval period.”

Since Milone’s departure, the Vatican has suffered embarrassing public revelations over its monetary selections, prompting a reorganisation of the administration of its charitable donations. The Vatican realised effectively over £100mn in losses when the London property on the centre of the revelations was bought to Bain Capital for £186mn a number of months in the past.

Becciu, as soon as a detailed aide of the Pope, was stripped of his tasks within the Vatican in 2020. He and 9 different individuals have been indicted by the Vatican prosecutor final yr for monetary wrongdoing, together with embezzlement and abuse of workplace in reference to investments into the London property undertaking. Becciu has at all times denied any wrongdoing. His trial is ongoing.

Milone mentioned his years on the Vatican have been the “most troublesome” of his profession. Although he anticipated the project to be “a possibility to contribute to the modernisation of the church”, he bumped into fierce resistance from {powerful} people uncomfortable together with his efforts to convey transparency and accountability.

The previous chief auditor mentioned he initially met month-to-month with the Pope to temporary him on his work however had been denied any papal audiences for your entire yr earlier than he was pressured out. He had additionally discovered his workplace was bugged inside weeks of beginning the job.

“We did what we needed to do however, sadly, what we needed to do was very embarrassing [for the Vatican],” he mentioned.

Milone additionally mentioned the persevering with ambiguity over his departure from the Vatican had undermined his capacity to search out work in Italy, the place the Holy See carries nice clout in public life.

“In Italy, there’s a excessive degree of embarrassment when the Vatican is concerned . . . you may’t go and cross the Vatican,” he added.

The Vatican press workplace declined to touch upon Milone’s claims. Nevertheless it mentioned the Holy See’s promoter of justice, who’s the city-state’s chief prosecutor, reopened the suspended probe into Milone’s case within the spring.