Vatican financial regulator leaves job after police raids
The head of the Vatican's financial regulator is leaving his job, the Vatican said on Monday (November 18), just weeks after police raids on his organization and another key arm of the Catholic Church's bureaucracy.
Those raids are part of a probe into possible crimes including money-laundering, connected to a multi-million dollar real estate deal.
Rene Bruelhart, head of the Financial Information Authority or AIF, told Reuters he had resigned though did not give any further details.
On October 1, Vatican police entered the offices of the AIF and the Secretariat of the State, seizing documents and computers, in an operation that sent shockwaves through the clerical establishment.
Five Vatican employees were suspended immediately afterwards.
It's all about a real estate investment made in the London by the Secretariat, which is the political heart of the global Catholic Church.
It spent $200 million in 2014 for a minority stake in a complex plan to buy a building in the British capital's upmarket Chelsea district and convert it into luxury apartments.
The raids followed a search warrant issued by the Vatican's own prosecutor. He's looking into possible crimes such as embezzlement, abuse of office, fraud, and money laundering, according to people familiar with that document.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin acknowledged last month that the deal was not transparent, and promised to shed light on it.
The AIF board, headed by Bruelhart, has said the regulator did nothing wrong when it looked over the property investment.
The Vatican said Bruelhart's successor would be announced soon in order to, quote "assure continuity."
