A businessman named Gianluigi Torzi, who acted as middleman in the Holy See’s £300-million property deal in London, said that Fabrizio Tirabassi, a senior Vatican lay official involved in that purchase, allegedly offered him the services of a prostitute.
Torzi also claimed that Tirabassi threatened his life and openly boasted of blackmailing senior clergymen in Rome. Torzi said in written evidence that he was so concerned by the behaviour of the official that he reported it to Pope Francis during a private meeting.
This development comes as the Crown Court in Southwark revoked an earlier order that had frozen Torzi’s funds, as he was charged by the Vatican with extortion, embezzlement, aggravated fraud, and money laundering.
Vatican prosecutors previously alleged that Torzi, along with Tirabassi, senior cleric Monsignor Alberto Perlasca and London financier Raffaello Mincione, conspired to fleece the church jurisdiction out of millions in fees in negotiations, but judge Tony Baumgartner last week reversed a decision to seize his bank accounts and awarded him legal fees.
The controversy led to a series of police raids, Tirabassi being suspended from his Vatican post, Perlasca being moved to a different role.
The Vatican believes that it was cheated when it paid £300 million for the building in 2018 and claims that the property fetched £129 million in 2012.
The judge pointed out that the Vatican failed to mention that the value had risen sharply after planning permission for residential use was granted.
He also added that the Vatican had failed to disclose documents and misrepresented the facts and said: “I do not consider there is reasonable cause to believe Mr Torzi has benefited from criminal conduct.”
