Papacy used offshore tax havens to create £500m international portfolio, featuring real estate in UK, France and Switzerland


Behind Pope Benedict XVI is a porfolio of property that includes commercial premises on London's New Bond Street. Photograph: Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis

Few passing London tourists would ever guess that the premises of Bulgari, the upmarket jewellers in New Bond Street, had anything to do with the pope. Nor indeed the nearby headquarters of the wealthy investment bank Altium Capital, on the corner of St James's Square and Pall Mall.

But these office blocks in one of London's most expensive districts are part of a surprising secret commercial property empire owned by the Vatican.

Behind a disguised offshore company structure, the church's international portfolio has been built up over the years, using cash originally handed over by Mussolini in return for papal recognition of the Italian fascist regime in 1929.

Since then the international value of Mussolini's nest-egg has mounted until it now exceeds £500m. In 2006, at the height of the recent property bubble, the Vatican spent £15m of those funds to buy 30 St James's Square. Other UK properties are at 168 New Bond Street and in the city of Coventry. It also owns blocks of flats in Paris and Switzerland.

The surprising aspect for some will be the lengths to which the Vatican has gone to preserve secrecy about the Mussolini millions. The St James's Square office block was bought by a company called British Grolux Investments Ltd, which also holds the other UK properties. Published registers at Companies House do not disclose the company's true ownership, nor make any mention of the Vatican.

Instead, they list two nominee shareholders, both prominent Catholic bankers: John Varley, recently chief executive of Barclays Bank, and Robin Herbert, formerly of the Leopold Joseph merchant bank. Letters were sent from the Guardian to each of them asking whom they act for. They went unanswered. British company law allows the true beneficial ownership of companies to be concealed behind nominees in this way.

The company secretary, John Jenkins, a Reading accountant, was equally uninformative. He told us the firm was owned by a trust but refused to identify it on grounds of confidentiality. He told us after taking instructions: "I confirm that I am not authorised by my client to provide any information."

Research in old archives, however, reveals more of the truth. Companies House files disclose that British Grolux Investments inherited its entire property portfolio after a reorganisation in 1999 from two predecessor companies called British Grolux Ltd and Cheylesmore Estates. The shares of those firms were in turn held by a company based at the address of the JP Morgan bank in New York. Ultimate control is recorded as being exercised by a Swiss company, Profima SA.

British wartime records from the National Archives in Kew complete the picture. They confirm Profima SA as the Vatican's own holding company, accused at the time of "engaging in activities contrary to Allied interests". Files from officials at Britain's Ministry of Economic Warfare at the end of the war criticised the pope's financier, Bernardino Nogara, who controlled the investment of more than £50m cash from the Mussolini windfall.

Nogara's "shady activities" were detailed in intercepted 1945 cable traffic from the Vatican to a contact in Geneva, according to the British, who discussed whether to blacklist Profima as a result. "Nogara, a Roman lawyer, is the Vatican financial agent and Profima SA in Lausanne is the Swiss holding company for certain Vatican interests." They believed Nogara was trying to transfer shares of two Vatican-owned French property firms to the Swiss company, to prevent the French government blacklisting them as enemy assets.

Earlier in the war, in 1943, the British accused Nogara of similar "dirty work", by shifting Italian bank shares into Profima's hands in order to "whitewash" them and present the bank as being controlled by Swiss neutrals. This was described as "manipulation" of Vatican finances to serve "extraneous political ends".

The Mussolini money was dramatically important to the Vatican's finances. John Pollard, a Cambridge historian, says in Money and the Rise of the Modern Papacy: "The papacy was now financially secure. It would never be poor again."

From the outset, Nogara was innovative in investing the cash. In 1931 records show he founded an offshore company in Luxembourg to hold the continental European property assets he was buying. It was called Groupement Financier Luxembourgeois, hence Grolux. Luxembourg was one of the first countries to set up tax-haven company structures in 1929. The UK end, called British Grolux, was incorporated the following year.

When war broke out, with the prospect of a German invasion, the Luxembourg operation and ostensible control of the British Grolux operation were moved to the US and to neutral Switzerland.

The Mussolini investments in Britain are currently controlled, along with its other European holdings and a currency trading arm, by a papal official in Rome, Paolo Mennini, who is in effect the pope's merchant banker. Mennini heads a special unit inside the Vatican called the extraordinary division of APSA – Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica – which handles the so-called "patrimony of the Holy See".

According to a report last year from the Council of Europe, which surveyed the Vatican's financial controls, the assets of Mennini's special unit now exceed €680m (£570m).

While secrecy about the Fascist origins of the papacy's wealth might have been understandable in wartime, what is less clear is why the Vatican subsequently continued to maintain secrecy about its holdings in Britain, even after its financial structure was reorganised in 1999.

The Guardian asked the Vatican's representative in London, the papal nuncio, archbishop Antonio Mennini, why the papacy continued with such secrecy over the identity of its property investments in London. We also asked what the pope spent the income on. True to its tradition of silence on the subject, the Roman Catholic church's spokesman said that the nuncio had no comment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/21/vatican-secret-property-empire-mussolini

Mr frosbel wetin be this one again
Mussolini payed the papacy to move out of italy and settle in vatican city which they did and they decided to invest the money wisley so as not to put much strain on the finnace of their member in form of tithing and sowing of different kind of seeds which of cause the almighty and all knowing frosbel and his wife hate.

Would u provide us with d documents pls

Omexonomy: Mr frosbel wetin be this one again
Mussolini payed the papacy to move out of italy and settle in vatican city which they did and they decided to invest the money wisley so as not to put much strain on the finnace of their member in form of tithing and sowing of different kind of seeds which of cause the almighty and all knowing frosbel and his wife hate.

I suggest you email the UK Guardian Press and lodge a complaint.

Thanks.

Fr0sbel:

I suggest you email the UK Guardian Press and lodge a complaint.

Thanks.

almighty and allkowing frosbel how are you and ur wife. the UK Guardian Press are not the one drawing our attention to these fact on nairaland it is you courtesy mr frosbel.

Omexonomy:
almighty and allkowing frosbel how are you and ur wife. the UK Guardian Press are not the one drawing our attention to these fact on nairaland it is you courtesy mr frosbel.

The UK Guardian and associated British papers have revealed this to over 50 million readers, my small self only revealed it to less than 30,000.

What do you think

Fr0sbel:

I suggest you email the UK Guardian Press and lodge a complaint.

Thanks.

almighty and allkowing frosbel how are you and ur wife. the UK Guardian Press are not the one drawing our attention to these fact on nairaland it is you courtesy mr frosbel. And dont forget another name for jounalism is lie-lie - ism

Omexonomy:
almighty and allkowing frosbel how are you and ur wife. the UK Guardian Press are not the one drawing our attention to these fact on nairaland it is you courtesy mr frosbel. And dont forget another name for jounalism is lie-lie - ism

Accept my deepest sympathy for exposing yet another catholic scandal.

frosbel:

Accept my deepest sympathy for exposing yet another catholic scandal.

almighty and allknowing frosbel accept my shallowest sympathy for quoting from an unverifieable atheist lie lie newspaper

Omexonomy: almighty and allknowing frosbel accept my shallowest sympathy for quoting from an unverifieable atheist lie lie newspaper

Your compliments have been acknowledged with gratitude

frosbel:

Your compliments have been acknowledged with gratitude

but seriously why the hatred for catholic and other denomination except ur own denomination

Nice work, Frosbel.

Logicboy03: Nice work, Frosbel.

frosbel brother inlaw how far na long time no see

I'M still trying to understand what is BAD about that...

...Or is something BAD just because it was done by the Catholic Church?

italo: I'M still trying to understand what is BAD about that...

...Or is something BAD just because it was done by the Catholic Church?

There is nothing bad, bt you see something bad with orisejafor getting a private jet rumoured to be from the government! Thats double standard.

Bélla3: There is nothing bad, bt you see something bad with orisejafor getting a private jet rumoured to be from the government! Thats double standard.

Stop being presumptuous and too forward.

Firstly, I have neither said it what the Vatican is doing is bad, nor have I said it is not bad. I have simply left it open for the OP or any othey person with a similar disposition to tell me WHY it is bad if indeed it is, because that seems to be his opinion.

Secondly, how do you know I see something bad about Oritsejafor getting a private jet? Did I ever tell you that or you just find it convenient to be under the illusion that I said so?

So where is the double standard?

What is wrong with you?!

Omexonomy: but seriously why the hatred for catholic and other denomination except ur own denomination

I do not belong to a denomination

Ok we get, you trying to get back at the catholic church for leaving CAN and criticizing Orisejefor, as their action singularly boost their credibility to many, but come frosbel, should u have used your 5000 year excuse and say it happened 1945, offcourse none of this is really confirmed . . .

frosbel:

I do not belong to a denomination

no wonder you have sworn to destroy all the denominations of christendom carry go jawe.

italo: I'M still trying to understand what is BAD about that...

...Or is something BAD just because it was done by the Catholic Church?

dont mind them any thing catholic is bad only thier own good

italo: I'M still trying to understand what is BAD about that...

...Or is something BAD just because it was done by the Catholic Church?

my own contention is dat d article has no proof. U just can say ubenedictus took abacha's money and bought aso rock, no!
First u have to prove aso rock belongs to ubenedictus, u must again prove dat abacha owns d said money and thirdly show proof dat ubenedictus took d money. If these three request can't be met then u have a baseless accusation devoid of merit and at best a conspiracy theory. This is exactly what frosbel's article have refused to provide, frosbel is peddling another conspiracy theory.

Ubenedictus: my own contention is dat d article has no proof. U just can say ubenedictus took abacha's money and bought aso rock, no!
First u have to prove aso rock belongs to ubenedictus, u must again prove dat abacha owns d said money and thirdly show proof dat ubenedictus took d money. If these three request can't be met then u have a baseless accusation devoid of merit and at best a conspiracy theory. This is exactly what frosbel's article have refused to provide, frosbel is peddling another conspiracy theory.

I can also say that all the stories about pastors buying jets etc are conspiracy theories, no ?

Anyway, this story has been reported by all the respectable news papers I can think of .

For example the Telegraph, Daily Mail, Guardian, Huntington post, etc

frosbel:

I do not belong to a denomination

You do!

Your personal church...where you decide what is right and what is wrong; what is God's teaching and what is not... And I'm sure you also INVEST...or dont you?

frosbel:

I can also say that all the stories about pastors buying jets etc are conspiracy theories, no ?

You can say anything you like, it doesnt affect the Catholic Church. We dont need other people's misfortune to validate ourselves.

Frosbel again and his Anti Catholic Propaganda on Nairaland. Nowing full well that Vatican is an Independent State, what is wrong with having some foreign investments?. Since the Catholic church does not turn the bible upside down so as to impose neck breaking tites one God's Children. Where do you think the Catholic church got the Billions of Dollas She gave to Haiti after her devastating earthquake few years ago?. Where do you think she got the money used to finance her Missionary activities in third world Countries?. Where did you think she gets the BILLION of DOLLAS She spends yearly to provide Humaniterian Aids to waring Nations round the Globe?. I am from Anambra State, and any Sincere Igbo man who knows the True history of the Nigeria/Biafra war know that if not for the intervention of The Vatican through her Charity Organisation, "CARITAS INTERNATIONAL" the entire Igbo race would have been wiped out by hunger during the war. This is happening when the so called Big Powers and UN abandond us. Where did you think She got the money to sustain almost the whole South Eastern Nigeria including the Anglicans and pegans?. I know some of you will be hearing this for the very first time. These stories where hidden to save us from the disgrace. Why didn't you wonder why 65 to 70 percent Igbos are Catholic?. This is because, after the war, all the Pegans that want to Convert to Christianity went for the Catholic Church. That is the reward you get when your action speaks louder than your voice. During the war all the Anglican and Protestant missionaries ran out of the country with their wives and children while all the Catholic missionaries mainly Irish Priest, Rev Sisters and Brothers who were all celibate stay back to care for us. They bandaged our wonds, the fed us with the resouses they got from the Vatican which were smuggled through the same air, land and sea bourders that were blockaded by Nigerian and British forces. These great men and women of Great faith surfered and died with us. The ones that suvived the war were deported by the Nigerian government immediatly after the war. These experiences alone made many pegans and Anglicans to Convert to Catholicism. This is the very reason why "NO CHURCH WHATSOEVER" can STAND the way THE HOLY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH is standing in The South Easter part of this Country. That is why St Jame say that "faith without work is dead". JESUS fed many people while on earth and His true CHURCH is spreading the Gospel and feeding the poor nations of the world that are ravaged by wars and natural disasters. If you watch Aljezera, you will know what I am talking about. So frosbel ask yourself, the money for all these humanitarian aid and missionary activities, where are they coming from?. Have you ever heard that Vatican borrowed money from any Government or is owing any Bank. Just like our great pillars Peter and Paul, we provide for ourselves through our investments and don't depend on any human Institution to survive. As you can see we don't waste our money on Stupendous luxury. Even the Pope has no Private Jet because there is no space to park it in Vatican and because he can spend less using Italian airways. So frosbel stop wasting your time attaching the Catholic Church just the way Logicboy is wasting his time attacking Religion.

^^^

I am not sure it is a good thing for a church to be associated with two of the worst and most evil tyrants who ever lived, Mussolini and Hitler,

italo:

Stop being presumptuous and too forward.

Firstly, I have neither said it what the Vatican is doing is bad, nor have I said it is not bad. I have simply left it open for the OP or any othey person with a similar disposition to tell me WHY it is bad if indeed it is, because that seems to be his opinion.

Secondly, how do you know I see something bad about Oritsejafor getting a private jet? Did I ever tell you that or you just find it convenient to be under the illusion that I said so?

So where is the double standard?

What is wrong with you?!

Hmmmmm... I like your reply.
So tell us do you think what the catholic church did is/was right?

frosbel: ^^^

I am not sure it is a good thing for a church to be associated with two of the worst and most evil tyrants who ever lived, Mussolini and Hitler,

of all people in the history of man why have you chosen to associate these people with the catholic church. Give a dog a bad name and hang him abi

Ubenedictus: Would u provide us with d documents pls

the documents you are asking for is inside the belle of mr frosbel he eat it with strong fufu watery ofei olugbu.

frosbel: ^^^

I am not sure it is a good thing for a church to be associated with two of the worst and most evil tyrants who ever lived, Mussolini and Hitler,

Our partial and deplomatic association with these tyrants was to Prevent them from wasting more lives than they would have intended to, when no human power or Nation on earth could stop then. By the way, Jesus associated with the Worst of Criminals, Rogues, Halots, Pros.titutes and Tax Collectors that lived during His time, so what is you Problem with the Catholic Church IMITATING her Founder.

Bélla3: Hmmmmm... I like your reply.
So tell us do you think what the catholic church did is/was right?

I THINK it is okay...unless somebody can convince me otherwise.

...And that is IF it actually happened, and/or if it happened the way it has been described.

frosbel:

I can also say that all the stories about pastors buying jets etc are conspiracy theories, no ?
Anyway, this story has been reported by all the respectable news papers I can think of .
For example the Telegraph, Daily Mail, Guardian, Huntington post, etc

atleast i can see d jets with d pastors and d pastors affirming it. Dat way i know 4 a fact some nigerian pastors own private jet. Here on d otherhand is an article without proof.
And u were mentioning new papers, what do u know about news pappers? News papers simply broadcast new in a way to grasp their audience even wen, the new isnt exactly correct. The same newspapers u mention said d pope has banned christmas wen he never did. D same newspapers + cnn, bbc, wrote d other day dat d pope says catholic can use contraceptive wen he neva did. Oh! Even recently our own sahara reporters, said d catholic church withdrew membership of can wen she only temporary suspended participation of national activities.
When d us invasion of iraq started all d major newspapers said iraq had atomic weapons, and up till today no atomic weapon has been found.
So yes d major newspapers have been known to indulge d appetite of readers and make up, very interesting stories dat has no fact behind dem.
So my dear even frosbel newspaper can spew conspiracy theories. And unless documents can be presented d above is one of such.
Thank u.