Sources inside the Vatican’s Prefecture for the Economy confirmed to CNA that a substantial part of the $200 million used to finance the Secretariat of State’s purchase of a luxury development [in London] at 60 Sloane Avenue came through credit extended by BSI, a Swiss bank with a long track record of violating money-laundering and fraud safeguards in its dealings with sovereign wealth funds.
...
The connection to BSI comes to light as the Vatican’s own financial watchdog is struggling to assert its credibility. On Nov. 18, the president of the Financial Information Authority (AIF), René Brüelhart, resigned his post.
"Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who authorized the Vatican’s [London] investment, described the Holy See’s involvement in the real estate development as a matter of ordinary business, denying there was anything suspicious about the transaction." [2]
Therefore, it must also be business as usual for Cardinal Angelo Becciu when he chose to obtain financing from "a Swiss bank with a long track record of violating money-laundering and fraud safeguards" in purchasing 60 Sloan Avenue.
The article first cited also exposed the drama that took place between Cardinal Angelo Becciu and Cardinal George Pell.
Pell continues to serve time in prison after his sexual abuse conviction was "upheld by Court of Appeals in Victoria" [3] but will have a chance to present his case to Australia's High Court in getting his conviction overturned but not "before the justices return from their summer break in early February[, 2020]." [4]
Cardinal George Pell's sexual abuse case is separate and apart from his demand for details on "the loans off-books" that the Vatican was trying to hide. [5] It would be fascinating to learn that the two unrelated events could somehow be linked. Is it not strange that Cardinal Pell is in jail based on the testimony of one witness [6] whereas Theodore McCarrick was never brought to trial even though he had a lot more evidence of of sexual misconduct piled up against him [7]?
[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-officials-swiss-bank-suspected-of-money-laundering-led-to-pell-conflict-62858
[2] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vaticans-london-luxury-development-company-with-ties-to-alleged-financial-crime-offered-to-raze-parish-rectory-95153
[3] http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/breaking-cardinal-pells-sexual-abuse-conviction-upheld
[4] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cardinal-george-pell-wins-another-chance-to-appeal-sexual-abuse-charges-2019-11-12/
[5] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-officials-swiss-bank-suspected-of-money-laundering-led-to-pell-conflict-62858
[6] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/02/cardinal-george-pells-conviction-the-questions-that-remain
[7] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/analysis-the-non-trial-of-theodore-mccarrick-25046
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