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A cardinal who oversaw the management of the Vatican's funds from 2011 to 2018 has been convicted of multiple counts of embezzlement and fraud in a landmark corruption case.
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, once one of the Holy See's most powerful figures, was sentenced to five years and six months in prison by the Vatican criminal court on Saturday. The Italian media called this the “trial of the century” against the Catholic Church. .
The charges stemmed from an investigation by Vatican police into the alleged misuse of church funds in an ill-fated real estate investment in London.
The Holy See had acquired a minority stake in an office building in Knightsbridge from a fund set up by London-based Italian financier Raffaele Mincione and planned to convert the building into a luxury apartment complex. However, the local council had not granted planning permission for the renovation when the Vatican became involved in the project.
After spending more than €350 million to acquire the property between 2014 and 2018, the Holy See suffered losses of £100 million when it sold the building to Bain Capital for £186 million last year.
During the trial, which began in July 2021 and included 86 hearings with 69 witnesses, Becciu's lawyers argued that the cardinal was “completely unaware of the potential problems” of the real estate investment or that it was “possibly illegal.”
“No one ever communicated the existence of problems and risks in the investment,” his defense team wrote in a submission to the court last month.
However, Mincione argued in court that the Vatican was well aware of the risks and had lost money because of its own irrational decisions.
Mincione, who was also charged in the case, was found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering and sentenced to five years and six months in prison, although his lawyers had already said they planned to appeal.
Others involved in the complex series of real estate deals were also convicted, including Gianluigi Torzi, whom the Vatican later asked to help gain full control of the building.
Torzi was convicted of racketeering, fraud and money laundering and sentenced to six years in prison.
Enrico Crasso, a former Credit Suisse banker who founded an independent consulting firm to provide financial advice to the Holy See, was sentenced to seven years in prison for embezzlement, money laundering and corruption.
Two members of the Holy See's Financial Oversight Committee were convicted of dereliction of duty and fined small amounts.
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In total, seven people were sentenced to prison in the case and ordered to pay around 200 million euros in damages to the Holy See.
Becciu was also convicted of a further charge of embezzlement for sending €125,000 to a charity run by his brother that was allegedly set up to help marginalized groups such as addicts, ex-convicts and the unemployed.
Becciu was also convicted of fraud in connection with the transfer of 575,000 euros to a self-proclaimed security expert who was supposed to use the money to free a nun kidnapped in Mali but instead spent it on vacations and a luxury shopping spree. Security consultant Cecilia Marogna was also convicted of fraud and sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
A lawyer for Becciu, the first cardinal ever tried in the Vatican's criminal court, said he would appeal the verdict.
“We will continue to shout loudly that the cardinal is innocent,” said Maria Concetta Marzo, a lawyer for the cardinal.
However, the Holy See's official Vatican dispatch said after the verdict that the outcome of the trial – in which some of the defendants or some charges were acquitted – showed that the trial was conducted with “full respect for the rights of the accused.” .
“The judge. . . argues completely independently on the basis of documentary evidence and witnesses heard, not on the basis of preconceived theories,” wrote Andrea Tornielli, editor of Vatican News.
The high-profile condemnations come amid signs that Pope Francis may be increasingly dissatisfied with the consequences of his campaign for greater professionalism and accountability in the management of church finances.
At a recent meeting with Vatican auditors, he called for “compassionate discretion” as they try to root out bad actors and corruption.
“The lure of corruption is so dangerous that we must be extremely vigilant,” the pope told auditors. But he said scandals “serve more to fill the pages of newspapers than to correct behavior.”
Pope Francis, who has vowed to clean up the church's scandal-plagued finances and ensure greater accountability, made no comment on the cardinal's condemnation in his public audience on Sunday, which was also his 87th birthday.
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