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The Institute for Ethics and Economic
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MONSIGNOR UNDER
PROBE FOR ALLEGED FRAUD IN SALES OF ART WORKS A Vatican monsignor is under
investigation as part of a probe into possible fraud over the attempted sale
of works of art, including one attributed to Michelangelo, officials said on
Friday. The Rome magistrate´s office, in a dispatch carried by the Italian
news agency ANSA, said Monsignor Michele Basso, an art expert who
worked for many years in the Vatican archives, was part of a wider probe into
possible "attempted fraud." The agency quoted Rome prosecutor
Salvatore Vecchione as saying no other Vatican figures were involved in the
probe. The magistrate was responding to a report in the Rome newspaper Il
Messaggero about the probe by deputy Rome prosecutor Francesco Polino. Basso
and his lawyer denied any wrongdoing and the Vatican called the affair a
"journalistic exaggeration." "This is all stupid," lawyer
Lorenzo Contrada told Reuters by telephone. "Monsignor Basso´s only
mistake was to trust people who tried to defraud him." Basso,
acknowledging he was being investigated, told the newspaper: "This is
all a sham, I know there is an investigation of me by the Italian
magistrature but I have done nothing wrong." The newspaper said the
investigation centered on the suspicion that the monsignor had been involved
in an attempt to sell some works of art, which magistrates suspected might
have been false, accompanied by Vatican certificates of authenticity. One of
these included a small, long-lost statue called "San Giovannino"
attributed to Michelangelo, the newspaper said It said Rome art officials,
after viewing photos of the statue in Basso´s possession, made a preliminary
assessment that it was not authentic. But Contrada said Basso believed the
statue was authentic. The Vatican press office said the Holy See
"respects the work of the Italian magistrature" and called the
story "a journalistic exaggeration." The Vatican said Basso currently
had "no position" in the Vatican. His office and residence are
listed in the Vatican phone book with three separate numbers. Il Messaggero
said investigators found blank certificates of authenticity on Vatican
stationery and with Vatican seals in the office of a lawyer in southern
Italy. Contrada said Basso entered the probe after police found the material
in the offices of the lawyers, who had in turn been accused by Basso of
trying to defraud him. Contrada said Basso had tried to sell works of art
which were his or had been entrusted to him by others in order to raise money
for a hospital in Albania that was a favorite charity of the late Mother
Teresa of Calcutta. No Proof Works Are False, Lawyer Says Contrada said there
was no proof that any of the works of art or archaeological artifacts were
false and said they were all the legitimate property of Basso or people who
had entrusted them to him. "Monsignor Basso worked for years in the
Vatican archives and is an art expert. He had a lot of contact with many monsignors...(from
whom he received) many donations of works of art," Contrada said.
"Also, because Monsignor Basso is an expert, he had the good fortune to
buy works of art at low cost which later turned out to be worth much
more," Contrada said. Contrada confirmed the newspaper’s report that
Basso had been questioned by proxy as part the probe, which Contrada said was
still in its initial phase. Since the Vatican is a sovereign state, its
citizens cannot be directly questioned by Italian investigators without their
permission. Questioning is often done by proxy. Fox
News, August 14, 2000 http://www.foxnews.com/etcetera/081400/art_probe.sm |
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Design:
Theo den Brinker |
Copyright:
Hrishikesh D. Vinod 2000 |
Last
Updated: |
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