The Vatican trial of the century has come to a close with the verdict being guilty on three accounts for Cardinal Angelo Becciu.
His guilty charge was for embezzlement, for illegally using two hundred and a half million dollars in a risky operation in London. The goal was to buy and sell a historic property. However, the court holds that Cardinal Becciu did not evaluate the risks of the operation, which ultimately caused the Vatican to lose millions of dollars.
Secondly, he was found guilty of giving about $600,000 to a company that was supposed to use the money to ensure the release of a nun kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists. In the end, these funds were used for other purposes.
Cardinal Becciu was also charged with unlawfully using funds from the Vatican's Secretariat of State to support a cooperative presided over by his brother. For this, the Cardinal earmarked about $130,000 in a Caritas account.
The verdict is a five and a half year prison sentence, a fine of almost $9,000 and a lifetime ban from holding public office in the Vatican. The Vatican will confiscate more than 200 million dollars from the Cardinal and the others found guilty of involvement in the London real estate operation.
Cardinal Becciu's lawyers have reasserted his innocence and have already stated that they will appeal the sentence as soon as the court announces the motivations for the verdict. They also said it is very important to keep in mind that the Cardinal did not use even a single cent of Vatican funds for himself.
JRB
TR: KG
