The Vatican is thinking about selling the London property at the centre of a financial scandal at the Secretariat of State, which lost an estimated $100 million in the building’s purchase. Bloom-berg reported this week that the Vatican is considering selling the former car showroom of the Har-rods department store, located at 60 Sloane Avenue in the ritzy Chelsea neighbourhood of London. The Secretariat of State began to purchase the building seven years ago as an investment property intended for develop-ment into luxury apartments.
According to Bloomberg, sources in the Vatican said that the London property is valued at about $369.1 million. The Vatican confirmed to Bloomberg that, while there is no rush to decide, selling is one of the options being considered.
The secretariat bought the property at 60 Sloane Avenue in London in stages between 2014 and 2018 from Italian business-man Raffaele Mincione. Torzi earned millions of euros for his role in the final stage of the deal.