It took 86 hearings with hundreds of hours of sessions for the court to pass sentence on the facts that, according to the Vatican communiqué, concern ten defendants, including the then Monsignor Becciu and several companies involved in a high-risk real estate investment in London.
The Vatican Tribunal, presided over by the magistrate Giuseppe Pignatone, together with the judges Venerando Marano and Carlo Bonzano, has considered the existence of "a crime of embezzlement (article 168 of the Penal Code) in relation to unlawful use in the administration of ecclesiastical goods" of the sum of 200 million dollars, equivalent to approximately one third of the availability at that time of the Secretariat of State. That is, about 183.8 million euros.
This sum, according to the Vatican communiqué, "was paid between 2013 and 2014, at the behest of the then Substitute Monsignor Giovanni Angelo Becciu, for the subscription of shares of Athena Capital Commodities, a hedge fund, referable to Dr. Raffaele Mincione, with highly speculative characteristics and entailing a high capital risk for the investor without any possibility of controlling the management."
As Omnes explained, the trial actually encompassed three cases against Cardinal Becciu, "very different from each other and all related to the issue of the management of the funds of the Secretariat of State."
The first is the most important, and concerns, as noted, the investment of the Secretariat of State in the shares of a small luxury palace in London for about 200 million dollars. The investment was given first to the agent Raffaele Mincione and then to the agent Gianluigi Torzi, explained Andrea Gagliarducci.
According to the sentence, they were found "guilty of the crime of embezzlement Monsignor Becciu and Raffaele Mincione, who had been in direct contact with the Secretariat of State to obtain the payment of the money even without the conditions having been fulfilled, as well as, in collusion with them, Fabrizio Tirabassi, an employee of the Office of Administration, and Enrico Craso".
Convictions
Considering the crimes charged against each of the defendants, the Court's sentences were as follows:
"BRUHLART René and DI RUZZA Tommaso to the penalty of a fine of one thousand seven hundred and fifty euros;
CRASSO Enrico to seven years imprisonment and a fine of ten thousand euros with perpetual disqualification from public office;
Raffaele to five years and six months imprisonment and a fine of eight thousand euros with perpetual disqualification from public office;
BECCIU Giovanni Angelo to a sentence of five years and six months imprisonment, a fine of eight thousand euros with perpetual disqualification from public office;
TIRABASSI Fabrizio to a sentence of seven years and six months imprisonment, ten thousand euros fine with perpetual disqualification from public office;
SQUILLACE Nicola, after the concession of the general attenuating circumstance, to the sentence - suspended - of one year and ten months imprisonment;
TORZI Gianluigi to imprisonment for six years and a fine of 6,000 euros, to perpetual disqualification from public office and to special surveillance for one year;
MAROGNA Cecilia to three years and nine months imprisonment with temporary disqualification from public office for the same period; and public office for the same period;
LOGSIC HUMANITARNE DEJAVNOSTI D.O.O. to a fine of forty thousand euros and to the prohibition to contract with public authorities for two years;
In addition, the Court has ordered the forfeiture in equivalent amount of the sums constituting the corpus delicti for a total amount of more than 166,000,000 euros.
Finally, the defendants have been ordered, jointly and severally, to pay damages in favor of the civil parties, liquidated for a total amount of more than 200,000,000.00 euros".
Obligated to indemnify
In reference to two other matters under investigation, Cardinal Becciu and Marogna Cecilia "have been found guilty, jointly and severally, of the crime provided for in article 416-ter of the Penal Code in relation to the payment, by the Secretariat of State, of sums totaling more than 570.570,000 Euros in favor of Marogna, through a company referred to it, on the grounds, which does not correspond to the truth, that the money was to be used to facilitate the release of a nun, victim of kidnapping in Africa".
Cardinal Becciu has also been declared "guilty of embezzlement (article 168 of the Penal Code) for having paid, on two occasions, into an account in the name of
Caritas-Diocese of Ozieri, the payment of the total sum of 125,000 euros actually destined for the SPES cooperative, of which his brother Becciu Antonino was president."
Resource
The cardinal's lawyers said in a statement: "We respect the sentence, we will read the motivations, but we remain certain that sooner or later the absurdity of the accusation against the cardinal will be recognized and, therefore, the truth: His Eminence is innocent," they said.
