AUSTRAC, the Australian Government agency responsible for detecting, deterring and disrupting criminal abuse of the financial system to protect the community from serious and organised crime is involved in tracing the $1.1m.

Appearing before a Senate estimates committee, AUSTRAC chief Nicole Rose (pictured) confirmed the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Victorian Police have been told of the financial watchdog's concerns.

Rose did not go into the nature of the information AUSTRAC had passed on or why it had been given to the state and federal police.

"The AFP has concurrently referred aspects of this matter to the Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC)," a spokesperson says.

The Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Mike Pezzullo, was also asked at the Senate estimates committee meeting if his department had received any requests from Pell's legal team to examine the matter.

Pezzullo said he wasn't aware of anything but would look into it.

Becciu's lawyer says his client strongly denies any interference with Pell's trial.

Viv Waller, a lawyer for a man who gave evidence against Pell in the 2018 trial, denies her client received any money.

However, Pell's barrister, Robert Richter QC, recently called for an investigation into reports about transfers from the Vatican.

"I am treating these reports as requiring a proper investigation by all fiscal authorities to track the money coming to Australia," he said earlier this month.

Three weeks ago, Vatican authorities' began an investigation of the alleged disappearance of the money.

The alleged disappearance of the money coincides with Cardinal Giovanni Becciu being removed from his post at the Vatican. Becciu also relinquished his rights as a cardinal.

Sources

• The Australian
• SBS News
• Image: ABC

The pair met in a private audience without masks.

In greeting Pell, Francis thanked him for his witness.

The meeting was confirmed in the Holy See's daily bulletin.

The Vatican released a photo of the private audience showing Cardinal Pell sitting closely to the Pope inside his office while the pair were filmed by a camera crew.

Sources:

• Vatican News
• BBC
• CNN
• Sydney Morning Herald

Nearly a month after private documents about a property deal involving the Vatican leaked to the press, Becciu explained his side of the story.

The Peter's Pence collection "is not only for the pope's charity but also for the sustenance of his pastoral ministry," he said.

Accusations abut his misuse of the fund for investments instead of direct aid to the poor are "muddy accusations that I firmly and disdainfully reject," he said.

"I have a clear conscience and I know that I have always acted in the interest of the Holy See and never in my personal interest. Those who know me closely can attest to that."

Stories about Becciu's involvement in investment in a property in London have been circulating for the past month, after the Vatican police raided offices in the Secretariat of State and its financial oversight office on 1 October.

On 2 October, Italian magazine L'Espresso published what it claimed to be an internal notice from the Vatican police about the "cautionary suspension" of five individuals.

Those individuals included Tomasso Di Ruzza, who is the director of the Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF).

L'Espresso said the raid was part of a Vatican investigation into how the Secretariat of State used $200 million to finance a property development project in the Chelsea district of London in 2014.

However, a fortnight ago, the Vatican said an internal investigation revealed that neither Di Ruzza "nor any other employee of AIF improperly exercised his authority or engaged in any other wrongdoing."

Becciu served as substitute secretary for general affairs in the Vatican Secretariat of State from 2011 to 2018.

According to the leaked documents, the Vatican Secretariat of State eventually purchased a majority stake in the London property in 2018 and incurred debts from the failed project.

The Vatican press office has not made any comments about L'Espresso's report. Nor has the Vatican press office clarified the nature of the alleged financial transactions or people being investigated.

However, last week Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who is the Vatican secretary of state, said while Peter's Pence is administered well, the London property investment was opaque - a description Becciu questions.

The Peter's Pence website shows it collects donations from a world-wide collection taken at the end of June each year.

The money is then used to "sustain the work of evangelization and, at the same time, to help the poor in whatever way is possible."

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Zenit