Giovanni Angelo Becciu was sentenced to more than 5 years in prison and disqualified from holding public office; he must pay a fine of €8,000
The Vatican Court sentenced on Saturday (Dec 16, 2023), in the first instance, the Italian Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu to 5 years and 6 months in prison, in addition to perpetual disqualification from public office and a fine of €8,000 (about R$43,000). The religious man was found guilty of embezzlement and fraud. He was tried along with 9 other people. Here's the complete of the sentence, in Italian (PDF – 131 kB).
Becciu was an advisor to Pope Francis and close to the pontiff. He was fired in 2020 after the use of Vatican funds to purchase a building in a luxurious area of London became public. The amount was taken from the Óbulo de São Pedro, a donation collection system normally used for charitable works. The process began in 2021.
The cardinal became the highest-ranking official to be indicted for alleged financial crimes within the Vatican. In a statement (complete – PDF – 120 kB, in Italian), the Vatican said that the court considered that there was “illicit use” in “ecclesiastical goods”. According to the document, US$200.5 million was transferred from 2013 to 2014, at the behest of Giovanni Angelo Becciu.
The amount would have gone towards subscribing to shares in Athena Capital Commodities, a hedge from investor Raffaele Mincione. The fund, according to the statement, had “highly speculative characteristics”.
Becciu was also found guilty of using €570,000.”under the false claim that the money would be used to help free a nun, a victim of kidnapping in Africa”.
Here are the convictions:
- René Bruhlart and Tommaso di Ruzza – €1,650 fine;
- Enrico Crasso – 7 years in prison, fine of €10,000 and perpetual disqualification from holding public office;
- Raffaele Mincione – 5 years and 6 months in prison, a fine of €8,000 and perpetual disqualification from holding public office;
- Giovanni Angelo Becciu – 5 years and 6 months in prison, a fine of €8,000 and perpetual disqualification from holding public office;
- Fabrizio Tirabassi – 7 years and 6 months in prison, a fine of €10,000 and perpetual disqualification from holding public office;
- Nicola Squillace – suspended sentence of 1 year and 10 months in prison;
- Gianluigi Torzi – 6 years in prison, fine of €6,000, perpetual disqualification from holding public office and subject to special supervision for 1 year;
- Cecília Marogna – sentence of 3 years and 9 months in prison with temporary disqualification from public office for the same period;
- company Logsic Humanitarne Dejavnosti DOO – financial penalty of €40,000 and ban on signing contracts with public authorities for 2 years.
Mauro Carlino was acquitted of all crimes.
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