Venezuelan Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, assistant to the Vatican Secretariat of State and number three in the chain of power of the Holy See, admitted to “clientism” and “failures” in the management of finances, in a lawsuit over alleged financial irregularities .
Peña Parra said the whole process involving the purchase and subsequent sale of a building in London, under investigation for suspected fraud, was “really a Via Crucis” in which contracts were signed by people who were not authorized to do so, the local government reported. press.
“In fact, we walked the Via Sacra, because the Lord fell three times, six of us,” the Venezuelan said before the Vatican court.
The archbishop said he decided shortly after taking office in 2018 to acquire 100% of the London building after Father Alberto Perlasca, then administrative manager at the Secretariat of State, recommended that he do so in order not to lose “the entire investment”.
However, the Venezuelan stopped the process and asked for more documents when he verified that days before, on November 22, 2018, Alberto Perlasca had signed a framework agreement and another for the purchase of shares with the broker Molise Gianluigi Torzi, without your consent.
“He didn’t say anything to me. I knew things were signed when I received the contracts on the 24th,” said Peña Parra, who stated that the priest had no authority to sign such agreements.
In doubt, Peña Parra relied on the assurances of lawyer Nicola Squillace, only to find out later that this man actually worked for Torzi, who owned all voting shares, while the Vatican had no decision-making power.
On that dead end, he informed Pope Francis, who, according to his version, decided to stop the business, buy back the property and later sell it.
According to Peña Parra, this erratic and opaque way of managing finances was a constant of Perlasca and his superior, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who was number two in the Vatican Secretariat of State between 2011 and 2018.
Source: DN
