What’s a billion or so between amicis, eh? As previously reported by The BFD, startling revelations late last year showed that millions of dollars were secretly transferred to a company in Melbourne. The money was alleged to have been used to help secure the false conviction of Cardinal George Pell, who was appointed to investigate the Vatican’s dark money dealings.
Pell has affirmed his belief that he was framed, noting that “every single one” of senior Vatican figures who’ve tried reform its finances have been attacked in some way.
From car fires to suspicious suicide and poisoning, investigators have been targeted with Mafia-like ruthlessness.
The story of the Vatican money trail took an even more startling twist when Austrac announced that it was investigating more than $2 billion allegedly transferred to Australia.
But it looks like someone may have misplaced a decimal point or two.
Vatican investigators have established that the Australian international financial watchdog’s report of $2.3bn transferred from the Vatican City to Australia in the past six years is “significantly” over-estimated.
The Holy See’s financial intelligence unit is working closely with Austrac to establish accurate figures for money transfers between the Vatican, Vatican entities and individuals after the financial monitor reported the $2.3bn figure to a Senate estimates committee.
Two billion, two million: either way, it’s a lot of money. And no-one knows where it went and why.
Despite the “significant” miscalculation in the transfer data, the Vatican Financial Intelligence Unit and the Australian Federal Police are still investigating substantial, suspicious transfers to Australia since 2014[…]
According to Austrac’s report to the Senate, transfers from the Vatican to Australia increased from $71.6m in 2014 to $137.1m in 2015 before doubling again to $295m in 2016 and peaking at $581.3m in 2017. More than $422m was transferred in 2018, $491.8m in 2019 and $294.8m in 2020.
Austrac has since announced that it is working with the Holy See’s financial intelligence unit to correct any “anomalies” in those figures.
But the fact remains that a great deal of dark money has been ferreted into Australia, for persons and purposes unknown.
The Vatican has been embroiled in scandal in recent months over allegations of embezzlement and nepotism levelled against Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a senior member of the church’s bureaucracy.
Cardinal Becciu was an opponent to Cardinal George Pell’s reforms at the Vatican when the latter was appointed in 2014.
Cardinal Becciu, who has denied any wrongdoing, was fired by the Pope in September over the allegations in relation to a troubled $360m building in London.
Vatican investigators have also probed allegations that money may have been sent to Australia to adversely affect the sexual abuse trial of Cardinal Pell.
The Australian
Still, Cardinal Pell might feel some relief that he was only banged up in prison on false charges of child molesting, instead of being found dangling under a bridge over the Tiber.
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