The former head of the Vatican’s financial intelligence agency was acquitted of corruption and bribery charges by a Swiss court Wednesday.
Newsroom (22/07/2025, Gaudium Press )René Brülhart, the 52-year-old former president of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF, now ASIF), has been acquitted of charges related to violating banking secrecy laws and allegedly engaging in bribery and obtaining classified information from an Austrian Secret Service member and several politicians between 2013 and 2016.
Prosecutors had sought a five-year prison sentence, alleging Brülhart operated a “secrets for money” network, with corruption as his “business model.” The defense countered that the prosecution’s case relied on “wild speculation and assertions,” emphasizing the absence of evidence for secret payments. The court ruled that the corruption and bribery charges lacked substantial evidence, and the banking secrecy violation had expired under the statute of limitations, leading to Brülhart’s acquittal.
This ruling follows Brülhart’s earlier legal challenges in the Vatican, where he faced charges of abuse of office and breach of confidentiality during a high-profile financial trial that concluded in December 2023. Cleared of the most serious charges, Brülhart was convicted only of failing to report a significant transaction to the promoter of justice, receiving a fine of 1,750 euros ($1,900).
A Swiss lawyer, Brülhart built a career championing financial reform, serving as head of Liechtenstein’s financial intelligence agency until 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed him director of the Vatican’s AIF. In 2014, Pope Francis promoted him to president, a role he held until 2019. His tenure ended amid controversy when Vatican law enforcement raided AIF offices as part of an investigation into financial misconduct at the Holy See’s Secretariat of State.
The investigation stemmed from a complaint by Gianfranco Mammì, director general of the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), the Vatican’s bank under AIF oversight. The complaint highlighted the “opacity” of a 150 million euro ($170 million) loan request from the Secretariat of State to refinance a mortgage on a London property acquired from former investment manager Raffaele Mincione. Vatican prosecutors, in a 488-page indictment, criticized the AIF under Brülhart for overlooking anomalies in the transaction despite receiving detailed intelligence.
A senior Vatican source, speaking to The Pillar, claimed Brülhart earned at least 300,000 euros annually for his AIF presidency, a part-time role equivalent to two days per week. The source also alleged Brülhart received a similar amount as a consultant for the Secretariat of State, arranged by Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who was convicted of financial crimes in 2023. Sources at the Secretariat for the Economy and the Secretariat of State noted that these consultancy payments were not disclosed to the Vatican’s economic oversight body, tasked by Pope Francis with reforming financial practices.
Brülhart’s legal team confirmed the consultancy arrangement but denied it was concealed or managed through Becciu, asserting it was formalized in a contract signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State. “Suggestions that the arrangement was off-books are without foundation and shocking,” the lawyers told The Pillar.
The Vatican financial trial concluded in December 2023, with appeals ongoing. Brülhart’s acquittal in Austria marks another chapter in the complex saga of Vatican financial reform efforts.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from The Pillar
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