Vatican City (AFP) - The Vatican has asked an
American consultancy to look into the dealings of a department which manages its vast real estate as part of a crackdown following accusations of corruption.

The Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) has been hit by scandals, including the arrest a senior cleric who had worked in the department for 22 years, who went on to accuse his superiors of misconduct.

APSA, which handles the Holy See's real estate
holdings, will have its books scrutinised by the US
consultancy firm Promontory Financial Group.

The US firm was already called in earlier this year
to conduct an external review of the scandal-hit
Vatican bank's money laundering rules.

APSA, which also pays the salaries of Vatican
employees and captains the financial and stock
portfolio, is being placed under external scrutiny "to
deepen the checks into the financial and
management situation," a statement said.

Pope Francis has pushed hard since his election in
March to make the Vatican's public finances fully
transparent following decades of scandal and
intrigue, particularly regarding the Institute for
Religious Works (IOR) -- as the bank is known.

The IOR was the main shareholder of the Banco
Ambrosiano, which collapsed in 1982 amid
accusations of laundering money for the mafia.

The chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, Roberto Calvi --
dubbed "God's Banker" -- was found hanging from
Blackfriars Bridge in London that year in a
suspected murder by mobsters.

The spotlight fell on APSA after prelate Nunzio
Scarano was arrested in June on suspicion of acting
as a front for dubious international payments made
through the Vatican bank.

Scarano wrote to the pope to defend himself,
accusing cardinals of covering up irregular financial
activities carried out by his superiors.

Reform-minded Francis has spoken repeatedly of
his desire to create "a poor Church for the poor".
One of the first steps was to install a special
commission tasked with investigating the bank and
another to probe Vatican finances in general that
will report their findings back to him.

news.yahoo.com/vatican-asks-us-firm-probe-real-estate-accounts-140933753.html

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