Vatican real estate deal trial gets underway with defense on the attack
On the opening day of the trial of 10 defendants accused of a wide range of financial crimes in regard to a London real estate deal, the defense attempted to portray the prosecution as antiquated and authoritarian.
In this Jan. 31, 2021, file photo, people are reflected on a puddle as they walk in St. Peter s Square at the Vatican. The Vatican s trial began July 27, 2021, addressing charges of 10 individuals regarding a real estate deal using Vatican funds. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
July 27, 2021
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A dull silence filled the room when Cardinal Angelo Becciu, shoulders hunched and eyebrows furrowed, walked in for the first day of a historic Vatican trial, in which he is one of 10 facing a wide range of charges for their part in a real estate deal using Catholic Church funds.
Vatican indicts cardinal and nine others connected to financial scandal
washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Vatican diplomat: The empowerment of women will contribute to peace and security
catholicworldreport.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from catholicworldreport.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
January 22, 2021
CWN Editor s Note: A Vatican tribunal has convicted two former executives of the Institute for Religious Works (the IOR, commonly known as the Vatican bank) on embezzlement and money-laundering charges. Angelo Caloia, who was president of the IOR from 1999 to 2009; and two lawyers who had acted as IOR consultants, were found guilty of arranging to profit from the sale of Vatican properties. Caloia was sentenced to a prison term of just under nine years. His attorney said that the former IOR chief would appeal, charging that the Vatican’s judicial system had not provided a fair trial.
The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
Rome: A former head of the Vatican bank, Angelo Caloia, was on Thursday found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering and sentenced to eight years, 11 months in prison.
It was the first-ever jail sentence issued by a Vatican state court in relation to financial crimes - a milestone in Pope Francis ongoing efforts to clean up Vatican governance.
Caloia led the bank, officially known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), from 1989 to 2009. The 81-year-old Italian was tried over corrupt real estate deals.
He was accused of conspiring with others to make millions from the below-market sale of more than 20 IOR properties in Italy, and laundering the proceeds in Switzerland.