Pope gave the nod to bug London businessman’s devices, report shows

THE Pope secretly authorised for the devices of a London-based financial broker charged with defrauding the Holy See to be bugged, according to a report.

Leaked Vatican documents seen by The Sunday Times allegedly show the Pontiff authorised investigators to tap phones, intercept emails and make arrests without seeking approval from British judges.

The Vatican’s Office of the Promoter of Justice reportedly used those powers to target millionaire Raffaele Mincione, an Italian fund manager and consultant.

Mr Mincione is now at the centre of a Vatican corruption trial. He is one of 10 defendants – including the former papal adviser, Cardinal Angelo Becciu – facing charges in the ongoing case which has been dubbed “the trial of the century”.

A Vatican spokesman said: “The legitimacy of the investigations and the correspondence of the Vatican judiciary system to the principles of fair trial has been recognised by various foreign courts.”

The defendants face various accusations including extortion, abuse of office, fraud and money laundering.

All those accused, including Mr Mincione, have denied any wrongdoing. When he testified at the Vatican trial in June, he said his reputation had been damaged by the case and that he was seeking to clear his name.

“It is the first time I find myself in this kind of situation,” he said during seven hours of questioning. “I have never received a fine in my 35-year career, never received a complaint from the banks that regulate our business.”

Prosecutors allege that the Londonbased businessman defrauded the Vatican over the purchase of a property at 60 Sloane Avenue, a former Harrods warehouse in Chelsea which was to be converted into luxury apartments.

The real estate venture began in 2014, when the Vatican’s Secretariat of State invested €350million (£298million) with Mr Mincione. In 2018, the Vatican felt it was being fleeced by Mr Mincione, according to the court indictment document, and it turned to another Italian broker, Gianluigi Torzi, to get out of the first deal.

The Vatican prosecutors accuse Mr Torzi of duping the Holy See and trying to take control of the London building by assigning himself the voting shares. The Vatican then gave Mr Torzi €15 million (£13million) to get out of the deal with him.

In a statement released on July 1, the Vatican said it had sold the building for £186million to Bain Capital, a Bostonbased private investment firm. A source familiar with similar transactions told Reuters the loss would have amounted to more than £120million. The Holy See said losses were covered by Vatican reserve funds, stressing that donations from the faithful in a papal fund known as Peter’s Pence had not been used.

More than 200 witnesses are expected to testify in the Vatican trial that will continue well into next year.

Cardinal Becciu made history in March by becoming the first cardinal to face a criminal trial in a Vatican courtroom. He told the court he had been subjected to a “media massacre” and was ready to clear his name against charges of embezzlement and abuse of office.

He and his lawyers have consistently defended his innocence.

“I was portrayed as a corrupt man, greedy for money, disloyal to the pope,” Mr Becciu told the court.

“I am here with my head held high, with a clean conscience.”

Since the embarrassing property deal, Pope Francis has overhauled the Holy See’s investment strategy, stripping the Secretariat of State of control over its own investment funds and creating a new committee to oversee its investments.

That committee is headed by Kevin Joseph Farrell, an Irish-born American cardinal who is based at the Vatican but was once the bishop of Dallas, Texas.

It also includes four lay financial experts from the UK, Germany, Norway and the United States.