Cardinal Angelo Becciu sentenced to prison after Vatican embezzlement trial

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A senior Catholic cardinal was sentenced to more than five years in prison Saturday following a lengthy trial at the Vatican over financial impropriety and the mismanagement of funds.

Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu was found guilty of three counts of embezzlement and handed a five-year, six-month prison term, the Vatican confirmed Saturday.

Becciu, 75, was also fined $8,700 for his role in the case, which centered around the 2015 purchase of a luxury building in London.

Several of Becciu's co-accused were also convicted and sentenced after a trial that lasted 2 1/2 years and featured 85 hearings.

A total of 49 charges were issued against 10 individual defendants including Becciu, as well as four companies, while 69 witnesses were called to testify. A collective 37 years in prison were meted out when the verdict was announced inside the Vatican.

The Vatican Gendarmerie conducted the investigation, culminating in a 487-page indictment. Legal proceedings began in July 2021 with in-person testimony before the court starting in March 2022.

"The court found that the crime of embezzlement was proven for the illicit use of the sum of $200 million and $500,000," the state-run Vatican News reported.

The Vatican City court found that although the final purpose of the money was in itself lawful, the disbursement of the funds from the Vatican's Secretariat of State constituted an illicit use amounting to embezzlement.

The money centered around the purchase of a high-end building in London, with Becciu and his co-conspirators convicted of misappropriating millions in Vatican money.

Becciu is Pope Francis' former deputy secretary of state and becomes the first cardinal to stand trial at the Vatican City's criminal court.

The former cardinal was also acquitted of some of the initial counts of embezzlement, abuse of office and witness tampering.

Becciu's lawyer, Fabio Viglione, indicated Saturday his client would seek to appeal the verdict.

Also sentenced Saturday was lawyer Nicola Squillace, who was given one year and 10 month in prison as part of a five-year suspended sentence for what the Vatican referred to as "extenuating circumstances."

Former Becciu financial adviser Enrico Craso was given seven years imprisonment, fined $10,900 and disqualified from holding public office.

Cecilia Marogna, who was hired by Becciu, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and handed a temporary ban from holding public office. Her Logsic Humanitarne company was also fined $43,600.

Former Vatican Supervisory and Financial Information Authority President René Brülhart and former director Tommaso Di Ruzza were both issued fines.

Raffaele Mincione, who the Vatican refers to a "financier" in the case, was handed a prison term of five years and six months as well as a $8,720 fine and barred from holding public office.

Another former Becciu employee, Fabrizio Tirabassi, was given seven years in prison, barred from holding public office and fined $10,900.

Broker Gianluigi Torzi received a six-year prison sentence and a $6,545 fine.