The Vatican court sentenced Italian Cardinal Angelo Becchio to five and a half years in prison for embezzlement.
Speaking to reporters, the cardinal’s lawyer, Fabio Viglione, insisted on his innocence and stated that he would appeal the court’s decision. Until then, Becchio must remain free
Becciu is the highest-ranking official in the Holy See to be tried and convicted of financial crimes, after an investigation into an investment in a real estate company in London, which damaged the Vatican by 140 million euros.
He was also convicted of embezzlement for transferring money and contracts to companies or charities controlled by his brothers in his native Sardinia.
The cardinal was in charge of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints until Pope Francis, who was one of his closest advisors, removed him in September 2020.
Between 2011 and 2018, he was a member of the Vatican Secretariat of State, one of the oldest departments in church administration and which is at the heart of the investigation.
The cardinal was charged with embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, abuse of power and extortion, along with nine other defendants. Everyone denied these accusations.
The trial took two and a half years and included 86 sessions.
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