ITALY
The Tablet (UK)
29 May 2015 by Grace Isaac
A senior Vatican official has denied accusations of fraud relating to the purchase of an historic castle in Umbria.
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, is one of ten people under investigation by Italian prosecutors for alleged fraud and embezzlement over the purchase of San Girolamo castle in 2011.
The castle, on the hills outside the town of Narni, is situated in the diocese of Terni, where Paglia was bishop from 2000 to 2012.
The local council sold San Girolamo castle to the real estate company IMI Immobiliare, which is headed by the bursar of Terni diocese, Paolo Zappelli.
The then Bishop Paglia is accused of having illegally used diocesan funds to purchase the castle.
Council officials are alleged to have colluded with Paglia, selling the castle in 2011 for far less than its true value.
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