The Vatican’s chief prosecutor has asked judges to jail Cardinal Angelo Becciu for seven years and three months on charges including embezzlement involving a multi-million-pound property deal in west London.
Alessandro Diddi made the request to Vatican City judges while summing up a two-year trial investigating the Holy See’s purchase of a luxury house in Chelsea.
The 75-year-old former head of papal staff is the first cardinal to face trial for financial wrong-doing, which he firmly denies. He said he was “pained” by the way Diddi had painted him as a sinister character.
Until June 2018, Becciu was the sostituto or deputy secretary of state for the Vatican, which has a property portfolio run by the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.
Although intended to generate income for the Vatican, the London investment led to a loss of more than €100,000 (£85,800).
A complex web of deals with Italian financiers who acted as Vatican middle-men surround the purchase of 60 Sloane Avenue, a former Harrods warehouse. Last year, the Holy See sold the property for £186 million to the private investment firm, Bain Capital.
One of ten defendants in the trial, Becciu also stands accused of abuse of office, conspiracy and the subornation of witnesses.
Diddi recommended that Becciu should be fined more than €10,000 and urged the court to confiscate €14 million-worth of assets from the disgraced cardinal.
In September 2020, Becciu resigned from his post as cardinal-prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. He revealed to the Italian news-site Domani that he had been asked to give up his role by the Pope.
It was alleged he had given Church funds to his brothers in Sardinia, where the Becciu family manage SPES, a co-operative that works with Caritas.
“I didn't steal even one euro,” he said.
Last week, Becciu reiterated his innocence, saying: “I have always worked for the good of the Church and I have spent my whole life for her.”
The court is now on a summer break with the trial due to resume in late September.
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