Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu has been sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for fraud by a Vatican court. Becciu previously served as an advisor to Pope Francis. The cardinal is the most prominent defendant among a total of ten accused in the largest criminal trial for financial crimes in the Vatican’s modern history.
Becciu was suddenly fired in September 2020 after being suspected of embezzlement. Pope Francis then also took away his right to vote as a cardinal during a conclave, the election of a new pope. Becciu has always maintained his innocence. He called the charges against him a “great injustice” that he could only see “as a test of his faith.”
The case revolved around, among other things, the embezzlement of money intended for charity. Becciu is said to have invested that money in a multi-million dollar building in the London district of South Kensington. The Vatican Secretariat of State suffered an estimated loss of 73 to 166 million euros on the sale of the property. As chief of staff of the Secretariat of State, Becciu was number three in the Vatican hierarchy and managed hundreds of millions of euros.
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Becciu is also said to have transferred 100,000 euros in funds to a charity organization in Sardinia, which is controlled by Becciu’s brother. The cardinal was also linked to Cecilia Marogna, a woman from Sicily. She received intelligence assignments from Becciu, who is also from Sicily, for which she was well paid. According to prosecutors, she embezzled 575,000 euros.
Two former executives of the Vatican’s financial audit office are also being prosecuted in the extensive trial, as are employees of the Secretariat of State and Italian real estate agents and bankers who were involved in the investment in the London property.
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