This Monday, the Milan court of appeal had to decide whether or not to extradite Cecilia Marogna to the Vatican, but the Vatican dropped the request.
The Vatican prosecutor assures that Cecilia Marogna will be tried very soon at the Vatican for “embezzlement,” and that this way, she can attend the process without limitations.
The businesswoman was arrested in Milan on Oct. 13. She is accused of having bought between 500,000 and 1,000,000 euros of luxury goods using the money she received from Angelo Becciu, at that time the Vatican's third highest ranking figure, for institutional matters.
She assures the expenditures were necessary for the task appointed her.
This operation, together with the investments in London through which various middlemen pocketed millions of euros, prompted Pope Francis to remove the Secretariat of State's authority to manage reserved funds.
Javier Martínez-Brocal