Vatican: Cardinal Becciu sentenced to five years in prison for financial malfeasance

The Vatican City Tribunal handed down its verdict on Saturday: Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, the Vatican's former number three, is accused of embezzlement at the end of the "London building" trial. Nine other people were convicted after more than two years of a lengthy trial on financial malfeasance linked to the building complex that caused the Holy See to lose tens of millions of euros.

Cardinal Becciu, here in St. Peter's Basilica, on August 27, 2022, was sentenced to five years in prison by the Vatican justice. AP - Andrew Medichini

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With our correspondent in Rome, Éric Sénanque

The verdict puts an end to a trial unique in the history of the Vatican, the so-called "London Building," a luxury building in the Chelsea district bought in 2014 by the Secretariat of State. It was Cardinal Becciu who at the time headed this central administration of the Roman Curia. He is said to have authorized loans for the purchase of the building and speculative operations that caused the Vatican to lose more than 150 million euros.

The Sardinian cardinal, now 75 years old, seems to have allowed himself to be deceived by unscrupulous financiers. Three of them were also in the dock.

In September 2020, when the scandal had just erupted in the Italian press, Archbishop Becciu had all his prerogatives as a cardinal stripped by Pope Francis. He was sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison for embezzlement, as well as a fine of 8,000 euros and a permanent ban on holding any public office.

In a note, his lawyers announced that they would appeal the verdict, noting that the 86 hearings of the trial had uncovered "a machination" against the high prelate. "Cardinal Becciu, a faithful servant of the pope and of the Church, has always acted in the interest of the Secretariat of State," they said.

Read alsoSwindled out of hundreds of millions of euros, the Vatican demands accountability

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