The Vatican Tribunal has opened an investigation against two former directors of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) for alleged embezzlement in connection with real estate transactions.
The news was confirmed on Saturday by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office. Fr. Lombardi stated that the investigation was opened by “the Promoter of Justice of the Court of the State of Vatican City”.
The decision, he continued, involves alleged embezzlement operations that “occurred in the time between 2001-2008” and also involves a lawyer who had knowledge of the actions.
“The problem was presented to the Judiciary of the State of Vatican City in the direction of IOR after internal verification operations launched last year,” he stated.
Concluding his statement, the director of the Holy See Press Office confirmed that the bank accounts of those investigated “were frozen as a precaution several weeks ago.
