On Saturday, a Vatican judge indicted 10 individuals, including a once-powerful cardinal. The charges include embezzlement and abuse of office as well as fraud related to the Secretariat of State’s 350 million-euro London real estate venture.
According to a Vatican press release, Giuseppe Pignatone (president of the Vatican’s Criminal Tribunal) set July 27th as trial date.
After a two-year long investigation into how the Secretariat of State managed its large asset portfolio, which was funded largely by donations from the faithful, the indictments were issued. The scandal led to a sharp drop in donations, prompting Pope Francis to remove the office from its ability to manage the money.
Five former Vatican officials, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, and two Secretariat of State officials were indicted. Also, it was indicted five Italian businessmen who managed the London investment.
An Italian intelligence expert was also indicted for embezzlement. He is accused of purchasing luxury goods using Holy See money to free Catholics being held hostage.
The main suspects are accused by Vatican prosecutors of defrauding the Holy See of millions of euro in fees and other losses relating to financial investments that were financed in large part through donations to the pope for charitable works. They denied any wrongdoing.
Gianluigi Turzi, an Italian broker, is one of the main suspects. He is accused of extorting the Vatican of 15 million euros in order to obtain the London building’s ownership in late 2018. The Vatican retained Torzi to assist it in acquiring full ownership of the building. Torzi was previously a money manager in the original investment, which was made in 2013. However, the Vatican claimed that these investments were risky and imprudent.
According to Vatican prosecutor, Torzi added a clause in the last minute that gave him full voting rights.
However, the Vatican hierarchy signed the contract with the pope’s No. 2. Cardinal Pietro Parolin and his deputy approved it. Both were not indicted. Francis was also aware of the deal and Torzi’s involvement.
The Vatican’s prosecutors have presented evidence that suggests the Vatican Hierarchs were conned by Torzi, and were assisted in part by an Italian lawyer — also indicted Saturday — to agree to the deal.
Torzi denied the charges and claimed that the accusations were the result of misunderstandings. He is currently in London, awaiting an extradition request from Italian authorities. They want to charge him with related offences.
Indicted as well was Cardinal Angelo Becciu (a former papal candidate and Holy See official), who was chief of staff at the Secretariat of State and helped to engineer the initial London investment.
Francis fired him last year as Vatican’s saint-making chief, possibly in connection to another issue: his 100,000 euro donation of Holy See funds for a diocesan charity run Becciu’s brother.
Vatican News, an in-house media outlet, stated that Becciu was initially not part of the London probe but was added in May 2020 following it became clear that he was involved in the plan to purchase the building. Prosecutors accuse him also of trying to change the story of one of the witnesses.
In a Saturday statement, Becciu stated that the allegations against him were “absolute falsehoods” and that he denounced the “unparalleled media pillory”.
He said, “I am the victim in a plot against me and have been waiting for many years to know any accusations against my, to allow me to promptly deny them to the world and prove my absolute innocence to them.” “It is only by looking at this terrible injustice as a test for faith that I can find the strength to fight this war of truth.”
Becciu denied any wrongdoing with the London investment. He has admitted that he made the donation, but said the money was for charity and not his brother.
Cecilia Marogna was one of Becciu’s protégées and was indicted for embezzlement. After Cecilia Marogna reached out to Becciu in 2015, with concerns about security at Vatican embassies around the world, Becciu hired Marogna as an outside consultant. According to WhatsApp messages, Becciu gave permission to Marogna to use Holy See funds totalling hundreds of thousands of euro to free Catholic hostages.
The funds were received by her Slovenian-based holding firm, which was also ordered to stand trial.
Marogna claimed that the money wired was her compensation for legitimate intelligence and security work, and reimbursements for expenses. According to Vatican News, Marogna spent the money on items that were not compatible with her humanitarian mission.
The former top two officials of the Vatican’s financial watchdog agency were also indicted for alleged abuses of office. In fact, the Vatican’s financial watchdog agency launched an international investigation into London’s deal months before Vatican prosecutors. According to Vatican News, prosecutors claim that they failed to stop the Torzi agreement and performed a “decisive role” by allowing it to unfold.
Other suspects did not immediately respond to Saturday’s request for comment.
