Vatican official sacked for 'spying' claims he was forced out by shadowy vested interests

The Vatican was embroiled in fresh scandal on Sunday after a former official claimed that he was forced to step down after his investigations into conflicts of interest made him enemies within the Holy See.

In the latest case of skulduggery and intrigue to hit the sovereign city state, the Vatican countered with unusually explicit accusations that Libero Milone had been caught “spying” on officials.

Mr Milone, 69, was appointed two years ago as the Holy See’s first auditor-general and tasked with overseeing the cleaning up of the Vatican’s opaque finances.

He had an impressive track record, having previously worked for Fiat, the UN and as a chairman of the global accounting firm Deloitte.

He resigned abruptly and without explanation in June, but has now broken his silence on the reasons behind his departure, claiming that he was forced out by shadowy vested interests determined to block the reforms of Pope Francis.

He revealed that on June 19 he was ordered to resign by Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, the Vatican deputy secretary of state, and told that he had been the subject of a seven-month investigation by the Vatican gendarmerie, the city state’s tiny police force.

"The facts presented to me on the morning of the 19th were fake, fabricated," he said. "I was in shock. All the reasons had no credible foundation."

He said he was the victim of a “set-up” by Vatican insiders who were scared that his inquiries were beginning to dig up dirt.

The saga began in 2015, when Mr Milone suspected that his computer had been accessed without his authorisation.

He called in an outside contractor, who found that his computer had indeed been tampered with, and that of his secretary infected with a spyware that automatically copied files.

The Vatican claimed that Mr Milone had used the external contractor to spy on Holy See officials, going far beyond his brief.

In a forthright statement released on Sunday, the Vatican said Mr Milone had “illegally employed an outside company to carry out investigative activities on the private lives of members of the Holy See.”

That was not only a crime, it had also “irredeemably damaged” the Vatican’s faith in him.

The Holy See had noted “with surprise and regret” the revelations made by the former auditor-general to various media outlets.

Archbishop Becciu even alleged that he had been spied on by Mr Milone.

"If he had not agreed to resign, we would have prosecuted him,” he said.