Venezuelan Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, assistant to the Vatican Secretary of State and number three in the chain of power of the Holy See, admitted that there was “clientelism” and “deficiencies” in the management of finances, in a trial for alleged irregularities financial .
Peña Parra said that the entire process related to the purchase and subsequent sale of a property in London, investigated for suspicions of fraud, was “really a Via Crucis” in which people without power to do so signed contracts, the local press reported.
“In fact, we walked the Via Sacra, because the Lord fell three times, six of us,” the Venezuelan told the Vatican court.
The archbishop said that he decided to acquire 100% of the London building shortly after taking office in 2018, after Father Alberto Perlasca, then administrative manager of the Secretariat of State, recommended that he do so so as not to lose “all the investment”. .
However, the Venezuelan stopped the process and requested more documents when verifying that days before, on November 22, 2018, Alberto Perlasca had signed a framework agreement and another for the purchase of shares with the real estate company Molise Gianluigi Torzi, without his authorization.
“He did not tell me anything. I knew that things were signed when I received the contracts on the 24th,” Peña Parra said, noting that the priest did not have the authority to sign such agreements.
When in doubt, Peña Parra trusted the guarantees offered by the lawyer Nicola Squillace, to later find out that this man actually worked for Torzi, who had all the shares with voting rights, while the Vatican had no decision-making power.
In that blind alley, he informed Pope Francis, who according to his version decided to stop the business, repurchase the property and sell it later.
According to Peña Parra, this irregular and opaque way of managing finances was a constant on the part of Perlasca and his superior, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who between 2011 and 2018 was number two in the Vatican Secretariat of State.
Source: TSF
