A troubled property investment has become a new source of embarrassment for the Vatican after a judge in Malta ordered the seizure of current accounts belonging to the Vatican Bank in Europe to recoup €29.5 million.
The action is the result of a long-running legal battle with Italian businessmen over a failed attempt to buy control of a building that used to house the Budapest Stock Exchange. Maltese investors claim that the Vatican Bank — known as the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) — refused to pay its share of the deal, which came to light after Benedict XVI retired as Pope and Francis took over.
A Maltese court had issued an order authorising the seizure of assets belonging to the IOR on
