IOR internal probe into ex-deputy DG (3)

(ANSA) - Rome, November 30 - Vatican Bank IOR has opened an internal probe into the activities of former deputy director general Giulio Mattietti, dismissed and escorted out of the Vatican on Monday, well-informed sources told ANSA Thursday. The sudden and drastic way he was removed was linked to the need to make sure he would not remove documents, they said. The probe will focus on those documents and on his computer files, the sources said. Mattietti's office at IOR has been closed, although it has not been sealed off, the sources said.
    IOR said Wednesday it had sacked Mattietti for so-far unknown reasons. The deputy head of the Vatican Press Office, Paloma García Ovejero, told ANSA that Mattietti "ceased his service on Monday November 27". Mattietti was appointed in November 2015 along with Director-General Gian Franco Mammì. Another IOR staffer was also sacked recently, sources said. IOR, Istituto per le Opere Religiose (Institute for Religious Works) has been through a painful process of reform recently after past financial scandals.
    Mattietti had had a successful career at the IOR and had been tipped by some for the top job.