A businessman from Italy who helped the Vatican for buying luxury property in London in a deal that is controversial has got arrested by the Vatican police, a report by m media stated on Sunday.
Gianluigi Torzi, who is accused of extortion, embezzlement, aggravated fraud, and also money laundering related to the $200 million deal, stated in a report on BBC.
Vatican Arrested Man
He is being held in Vatican police barracks and faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty. The 2018 purchase of the building is subject to an ongoing investigation. The apartment block on Sloane Avenue, in London's exclusive Chelsea, had been bought with church money by the Secretariat of State, the body charged with the Vatican's diplomatic and political functions.
But it is alleged the price was greatly inflated. In October 2019, police raided the Secretariat's office and seized documents and computers, and the Vatican suspended five officials, barring them from the city-state, the BBC report added.
Pope Francis suggested that parts of the deal made were corrupt, saying "they have done things that do not seem clean". Earlier this week, the Pope issued a new law designed to boost transparency in the Vatican's financial deals.
(With agency inputs)
