Merchants in the Temple by Gianluigi Nuzzi

Author:Gianluigi Nuzzi
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781627798648
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published: 2015-12-13T16:00:00+00:00

The Vatican Colonies in Europe

Another aspect of the Vatican’s real estate patrimony are the “colonies,” prudent real estate investments abroad into marquee buildings in various parts of Europe—downtown Paris, London townhouses on the Thames, dreamy apartments in Lausanne and other parts of Switzerland. The market value of these properties amounts to approximately 591 million euros.

This information is in the public domain today thanks to an investigative report by Emiliano Fittipaldi for the weekly magazine l’Espresso. Now the public knows all about the Sopridex holding company—valued at 46.8 million euros—which manages some of the most prestigious buildings in the center of Paris.9 “The staff includes a manager, three employees, cleaning personnel”—according to the article—“and 16 concierges.” The Promontory analysts documented the income of the staff and the members of the board: 56,000 euros is paid to the chairman of the board, and 6,825 to the three board members, one of whom is Paolo Mennini. The director of Sopridex, Baudouin de Romblay, received a gross salary of 12,956 euros per month, also for his thirteenth-month bonus. Fittipaldi combed through the wages of the sixteen concierges who work at the various properties: their salaries range from 7,000 to 29,000 euros. The 38,563 euros paid to their replacements during vacation was also verified and entered into the books. Seventy-five percent of the expenses for concierge services were billed to the tenants, while the remainder was covered by Sopridex.

In the French capital the Vatican owns “500 properties grouped into various buildings,” with a market value quite different from what appears in the financial statements. The confidential documents report that the income amounts to ten times more than what is declared, 469 million. The reason for this discrepancy is quite simple. The more the value of the property is understated, the lower the property tax owed to countries where there are real estate taxes.

The Swiss properties were administered by another holding company, Profima SA, founded in Lausanne in 1926, which in the past had been used as Pope Pius XI’s strong box for part of the so-called “damages” the Vatican had received from Italy after the signing of the Lateran Pacts.

Profima SA belongs to a financial archipelago consisting of nine other companies. These include Rieu Soleil and Diversa SA, which handle “savings management”—according to the analysts’ report—“holding securities, including stocks, in Roche.”10 Four other holding companies have almost exactly the same name, except for the last letter (S.I. Florimont B., S.I. Florimont C, S.I. Florimont E, S.I. Florimont F) and they are in good company with the other three “Siamese twins” (S.I. Sur Collanges A, S.I. Sur Collanges B, S.I. Sur Collanges C). A total of ten companies in Switzerland—a sophisticated network that controls a patrimony worth billions—report to the Vatican. “The ten companies”—according to the analysts—“were established to manage one property each, between Geneva and Lausanne.” Altogether they own assets indicated in their financial statement at 18 million, but their actual value is quite different: 49 million.11

In London, the properties are managed by British Grolux Investments Ltd.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.