A Vatican court has sentenced Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a former adviser to Pope Francis, to five-and-a-half years in prison on Saturday, the 16th of December, for financial crimes, accusing him of embezzlement and abuse of office, reports the BBC.
The two-and-a-half-year trial dealt with a London property deal that caused significant losses to the Catholic Church. The verdict exposed infighting and intrigue in the highest echelons of the Vatican.
After three judges had deliberated for more than five hours,
the president of the court, Giuseppe Pignatone, announced that Cardinal Becciu had been convicted of embezzlement.
Becciu’s lawyer announced his intention to appeal, claiming that the Cardinal was innocent. The other nine defendants were charged and acquitted on charges ranging from fraud to money laundering, but they also denied their guilt.
The Vatican invested more than 200 million euros in London property in 2014 to convert it into luxury apartments. By 2018, the Secretariat of State decided to buy the property outright, investing another 150 million euros. It is alleged that Cardinal Becciu signed the whole deal.
The money, originally intended for charitable purposes, was channelled through a trust managed by financier Raffaele Mincione. When the Secretariat sought financial assistance from the Vatican Bank, the deal raised concerns and the Vatican police carried out a raid which led to charges against Becciu, Mincione and other people.
Becciu was also accused of diverting funds to his Sardinian diocese
and paying 600 000 euros to Cecilia Marogna for her help in the release of a kidnapped nun in Mali. Marogna, who claimed to have offered her services as an intelligence expert.
The court said that Becciu had acted irresponsibly and “very speculatively” by investing more than 200 million euros in the Mincione fund.
Becciu, the highest-ranking Vatican official ever to face such charges, was previously seen as a potential candidate for the papacy.
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