180 million euros. That was the Vatican’s 2013 initial investment to own 45% of a building in London. Their investment, instead, later ballooned to over 300 million. Now, however, the Vatican is selling the building at it’s actual valuation, around 200 million euros. Most would agree that it doesn’t take an auditor to decrypt what was happening, but not only did the Vatican have an auditor throughout this time, it also took them multiple years to figure out something was amiss!
This story started with Raffaele Mincione and his investment fund, Athena Capital. The initial investment of 180 million euros was for a 45% stake in the London building on 60 Sloane Avenue, an amount already higher than what Mincione paid for it just two years prior. In 2018, Athena Capital reported a loss of 18 million euros to the Vatican, which led to them wanting to exit the deal while still holding their stake in the building.
This is when Gianluigi Torzi, broker, entered the picture to organize the sale of the rest of the building’s shares to the Vatican, which he orchestrated by buying the building through a company called Gutt SA. Restructuring the voting rights of Gutt’s shares, Torzi then sold 30,000 shares of Gutt to the Vatican for 40 million euros but still maintained effective control of both the company and the building, a fact that went unnoticed by the Vatican. He further pocketed 15 million euros in fees for the same.
Effectively, the Vatican had been sold the same building twice, without even owning all of it, while paying more and more along the way. Understandably, when the Vatican found out what was happening, the Pope took drastic actions. To date, the Vatican and the Pope largely blame Cardinal Angelo Becciu for the events that took place, citing his dismissal of the Vatican’s first external auditor in previous years. This action was especially severe considering that Cardinal Becciu was one of the most likely candidates for the next papacy, as well as a close confidant of the current Pope.
Cardinal Becciu denied these claims, which leads us to today, where the first trial in the Vatican overseen by outsiders has taken place and is yet to reach a verdict. The Vatican had also made a commitment of financial transparency to the EU, placing this trial under even more scrutiny, and we’re certainly looking forward to what’s yet to unfold in this case.
