Former Vatican auditor cleared of bribery in Zurich trial

Trial in Zurich: former Vatican financier acquitted Keystone-SDA

The Zurich District Court acquitted a former financial markets supervisor at the Vatican of charges of corruption and bribery on Wednesday.

Prosecutors had demanded a five-year prison sentence for the 52-year-old Swiss man. The court, however, ruled that the accusation of corruption had not been proven.

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The defendant’s contact person, a private detective, did ask an Austrian secret service agent for information, said the judge at the opening of the trial. “But it is doubtful that he revealed any secrets”.

In other cases too, the court questioned whether secret information had been passed on to the former Vatican official.

It is also unclear whether the information given by the detective reflects truthful information, for example about the amounts paid. Finally, the court did not find enough evidence that the Swiss had directly incited civil servants to reveal secret information.

Possible appeal

Through his lawyer, the accused told the media that he felt “great satisfaction and relief”, but had always been convinced that the charges against him were unjustified. The defence lawyer will receive CHF110,000 ($137,000) in compensation. The ruling may still be appealed to the Swiss Federal Court.

The public prosecutor’s office had accused the man of multiple counts of bribery and incitement to breach official secrecy. The events were alleged to have taken place between 2013 and 2016. Through the intermediary of the private detective, the accused allegedly obtained secret information from an agent of the Austrian secret service and from politicians.

The accused stated that he had perceived his contact, a former East German agent, as sincere. “If I had known that she was acting illegally, I would not have collaborated with her,” he said. Her arrest “shocked” him, he added.

Corruption as a business model

According to the prosecutor, the defendant set up a “secrets for money” network to make corruption “his business model”. The accused knew that the information came from public officials, he said. At the request of competitors, the Swiss had sought information on Russian investors and oligarchs.

The prosecution considered that the defendant’s approach was targeted. The private detective he already knew, a former East German secret agent, had a network of spies who provided information in exchange for money.

The prosecutor criticised the defendant for acting “reprehensibly”. “Such a procedure undermines confidence in the state”, he said. All the more so as the defendant held a privileged position and worked in the fight against crime. According to the prosecutor, the 50-year-old acted out of greed, even though he probably had no personal financial problems.

No valid evidence

The defendant’s lawyer criticised the prosecution for having lost all sense of proportion in demanding five years in prison. In his view, the prosecution’s case was based on “wild speculation and assertions”.

The lawyer also questioned the fact that some contact persons were public officials. The fact that the name of former Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser was mentioned in the indictment was merely an “inconsistent” act of grandstanding, he said.

No trace of secret payments

In addition, there was no trace of any payments made for secrets, according to the defence. For the lawyer, the motive of greed, put forward by the prosecutor, also made no sense. The defendant “had a good reputation and a prestigious professional position”, said his lawyer. The court meanwhile ruled out part of the charge, breach of banking secrecy, because the statute of limitations had expired.

Translated from French by DeepL/dos

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