On October 1, 2019, the Director of the Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria (AIF), Tommaso Di Ruzza, and his offices were searched by the Corps of the Gendarmerie of the Vatican City State in relation to an investigation initiated by the Promotor of Justice following two complaints lodged in July and August this year by the I.O.R. and the Office of the Auditor-General within their respective institutional competences. The search, which resulted in the seizure of certain files and records, is in connection with an ongoing institutional activity carried out by AIF based on a Suspicious Activity Report involving several foreign jurisdictions.
Immediately following these events, the President of AIF, René Brülhart, having consulted with the members of the Board of Directors, opened an internal investigation to gain a thorough understanding of the relevant operational activity of AIF. Based upon that internal investigation, the Board of Directors has determined: First, that the activity carried out by AIF and its Director was properly institutional in nature and conducted in conformity with the AIF’s governing Statute. Second, that in the exercise of its institutional authority, neither the Director nor any other employee of AIF improperly exercised his authority or engaged in any other wrongdoing.
Accordingly, the Board of Directors reaffirms its full faith and trust in the professional competence and honorability of its Director and, moreover, commends him for the institutional work carried out in the handling of this particular case.
As AIF continues to conduct its operational activities at the domestic and international levels, it remains fully cooperative with competent authorities.
The Board of AIF is confident that potential misapprehensions will be clarified soon.
[01695-EN.01] [Original text: Italian]
