The Vatican police have seized computers and documents from the department in charge of maintenance and restoration at St. Peter’s Basilica as part of investigation in relation to a corruption scandal.
The raid comes around one month after the Vatican Church had published new procurement rules intended to prevent corruption and cut costs.
The police had acted under orders from Vatican prosecutors in response to a report by the city state’s auditor general, The Holy See Press Office said.
Vatican magistrates ordered the raid based on the tip-off received from the office of the general auditor, the statement said. A commissioner has been appointed by the Pope to run the department temporarily.
It is said that the raid has something to do with awarding of contract for updating statues.
Pope Francis admitted last year that there exists financial corruption in the Vatican. He even described it as a scandal. “There is corruption, it’s clear. With the interrogations, we will see if they are guilty or not. It is an ugly thing, it’s not nice for this to happen in the Vatican,” the Pope said during an in-flight press conference while on the way back from Japan in November 2019.
The Vatican, last month, had introduced a new law aimed at boosting transparency in tenders and cutting costs through competitive bidding. The legislation brought the Holy See in line with international standards. The changes will “significantly reduce the danger of corruption”, Francis said in his written introduction to the law.
Source: Organiser