The sun shines in Rome, but Sardinia must seem very far away. Long one of the most prominent figures of the Holy See, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, originally from the island, was sentenced, Saturday, December 16, to five and a half years in prison and a fine of 8,000 euros by the Vatican City court. He will no longer be able to hold public office. The prelate appeared, alongside nine other people, in a case of questionable financial investments which proved catastrophic for the smallest state in the world.
The sentence read on Saturday in the middle of the afternoon, for more than twenty minutes, by judge Giuseppe Pignatone closes a historic trial in many respects. If other important figures of the Church have already appeared before civil courts elsewhere in the world, this is, however, the first time that a cardinal has been judged by lay people within the Vatican itself. The procedure itself, intended to be particularly transparent with hearings open to the press, is also unprecedented.
It took 86 sessions over a period of more than two years to try to clarify one of the biggest financial scandals in the history of the Vatican. The matter should not stop there. After reading the sentence, Cardinal Becciu’s lawyer, Fabio Vignone, immediately declared his intention to appeal: “We respect the verdict but we will certainly file an appeal”he warned.
Investment in a building in London
The story for which the prelate is condemned for embezzlement and fraud began in 2014. At the time, substitute for the Secretariat of State, a key position in the senior Vatican administration, which he occupied until in 2018, Cardinal Angelo Becciu authorized an investment of 200 million dollars (183 million euros) to acquire part of a building in London.
The Secretariat of State, a sort of Vatican interior ministry, had a total of $700 million in financial assets at the time. The investment was therefore considerable. By transforming the building thus acquired by the fund into luxury apartments, the Vatican Secretariat of State hoped to achieve a good deal.
Alas, she ends up, following multiple questionable financial decisions and actions, by buying the entire building before reselling it at a loss. Leaving almost the entire amount initially agreed on the table.
Two other cases of mismanagement
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