Pope Francis has appointed one of Italy’s leading anti-mafia prosecutors as president of the Vatican court, days after five senior officials were suspended in an investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing.
Giuseppe Pignatone’s investigations have led to the arrest of hundreds of mafiosi, from the 1980s to the present, and during his long career he has worked in the main cities of southern Italy chasing Cosa Nostra in Sicily and the ‘Ndrangheta in Calabria.
He was appointed head of the Rome public prosecutor’s office in 2012 and his investigations led to the arrest of dozens of members of the infamous Spada clan.
His new position means he will judge cases brought before the court, which handles crimes that occur on Vatican territory or involving Vatican diplomats.
The five senior officials were suspended on Wednesday after the Vatican confirmed on Tuesday that prosecutors had seized documents from the offices of the city state’s financial information authority, an oversight body, and its secretariat of state.
The Vatican press office declined to comment further on the raids, saying only that they were based on a report from the Vatican bank and auditor general’s office about past financial operations.
Reports in the Italian media said the investigation concerned the Vatican’s real estate holding. Vatican officials are suspected of having bought buildings abroad, including a luxurious building at Sloane Square in London, according to Corriere della Sera.
The Pope was informed of the suspected financial fraud last summer and Francis himself ordered a severe internal investigation “that did not let anyone off the hook”, the magazine l’Espresso, which first reported on the case, revealed on Wednesday.
