More than 10 months after the Vatican judge handed down a full explanation of the judicial basis for convicting nine people, including a cardinal, in a trial that ended last year, Vatican financial Defendants in criminal trials will finally be able to begin the appeal process.
Although the judgment presents a strong case against convicted Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the release of the full judgment has been awaited by defense lawyers as a necessary precursor to appealing the court’s verdict. was.
The final judicial verdict handed down by the Vatican City Tribunal. An image of a pillar.
The judges of the Vatican General Tribunal deposited the final findings with the Vatican Government on Tuesday, October 29, in a document signed on the same date.
The guilty finding and sentence imposed were first announced by the court in December, but the summary judgment did not outline the basis for the guilty verdict or explain the judge’s assessment of the evidence presented. The legal appeals process remained effectively frozen, as defense lawyers did not yet know exactly what conclusions they would be challenging until the final full judicial grounds were deposited. There was even.
The release of the judge’s full judgment means the defendants can finally begin the appeal process against the court-ordered verdict, which handed down decades in prison and millions of euros in damages.
In nearly 750 pages of arguments, the judges cited numerous criticisms of the city’s judicial process and system raised by defense attorneys during the trial, and reviewed the evidence and arguments that led to their convictions handed down last year. did.
“The Vatican’s legal system recognizes the principles of due process, the presumption of innocence, and the right to a defense, and indeed the current regulations explicitly provide for these,” the judges wrote.
During the trial and after the verdict, defense lawyers and media supporters repeatedly argued that the city’s legal system lacked international credibility and was subject to undue influence and interference by Pope Francis. .
These claims, particularly from supporters of the case’s star defendant, disgraced former papal chief of staff Cardinal Angelo Becciu, have failed to withstand basic legal scrutiny.
Other defendants have also launched international appeals against the Vatican City case. Earlier this year, Raffaele Mincione, whose investment management firm the State Department purchased the London building that sparked the trial, complained to the Office of the Special Rapporteur about the independence of UN judges and lawyers.
One of the key points in the full judgment is the judge’s explanation of how the court defined the crime of embezzlement.
Cardinals Becciu and Raffaele Mincione were found guilty of participating in the misappropriation of Vatican funds in an agreement that placed approximately 200 million euros in the hands of an investment management company on behalf of the State Department.
In a lengthy interview with The Pillar last year, Mincione said he was honoring his contract with the secretariat and fully acknowledged his investments, which were branded “speculative” and “selfish” by the Vatican. He said it was within his discretion. to him by contract.
Meanwhile, Beciu argued that there was no evidence that he personally benefited from the arrangement, so he could not be charged, let alone convicted, of embezzling church funds through the arrangement.
In their full judgment, the judges outlined the applicable legal definition of embezzlement derived from Italian criminal law cases. As a result of the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Italian State, some Italian criminal laws also apply to Vatican City.
Citing Italian Supreme Court precedent, the judges explained that a crime is committed “if a person violates a law or regulation by not investing the financial resources at his disposal for the intended purpose.” Using them for other purposes, in this case “buying shares in speculative funds.”
The judges said that because Cardinal Becciu’s illegal use of Vatican funds benefited Mincione and other defendants, “it is immaterial that he did not intend to act for (personal) gain.” handed down the verdict.
Separately, the judge found Beciu guilty of passing more than 500,000 euros to self-proclaimed “security consultant” and private spy Cecilia Marogna.
Throughout the course of the trial, Becciu repeatedly tried to claim that the payments to Marogna were personally and secretly approved by Pope Francis.
But secret recordings of Besciu’s conversations with the pope, as well as private correspondence between the two presented as evidence during the trial, show that Francis has repeatedly denied knowledge of the matter. Ta.
Beciu was also found guilty of funneling church funds to his brother Antonio Beciu, in a case that sparked a parallel criminal investigation in Italy. Antonio Beciu, along with others associated with the local Sardinian cardinal, is accused of receiving church funds intended for local Catholic charities into his personal bank accounts.
Italian investigators also uncovered evidence of money laundering and embezzlement in the case.
However, Vatican judges ruled that Beciu’s guilt in the matter was determined independently of any criminal acts or intentions by his brother or potential co-conspirators.
Rather, the judges found that Besciu violated fundamental Vatican financial law, which prohibits selling or gifting church property or money to relatives “without a specific written authorization granted by the competent authority.” He was found guilty of having done so.
During his trial in Vatican City, Cardinal Becciu claimed that he knowingly funneled tens of thousands of euros into his brother’s personal accounts, but that his actions were normal.
In Mr. Mincione’s case, Vatican judges found him legally culpable as a beneficiary of embezzled funds (Vatican money being used for illegal purposes) and, as a matter of professional due diligence, The court ruled that Mincione should have been sufficiently familiar with Vatican law to realize that he was committing fraud. Participated in an illegal operation.
Mr. Mincione maintained that he signed a contract that was legal in the jurisdiction in which he was operating. Before filing criminal charges in Vatican City, he filed suit in Britain, seeking a court ruling that he had acted in good faith in his dealings with the Vatican, including a 2018 separation agreement that transferred ownership of a London building. Ta. The money was sent to Gianluigi Torzi, a designated agent of the Secretary of State who was also convicted of financial crimes in the case, at 60 Sloan Avenue.
Earlier this year, a London court heard from Becciu’s successor, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, who ordered his divorce from Mincione in 2018. Archbishop Peña Parra told the court that the secretariat had been the “victim of serious fraud”.
But the monk had also knowingly authorized the payment of “totally fictitious” invoices in carrying out the separation and dealing with attempts by Torzi to extort the Vatican as part of the process. He also admitted that.
“I was not honest,” the archbishop told the court. “I accept that.”
In the full Vatican City judgment handed down on Tuesday, the judges said Torzi, along with Enrico Crasso, another outside investment adviser at the State Department, and Fabrizio Tirabassi, a former Vatican official, were charged with money laundering and embezzlement. He was also found guilty of the crime. Department.
All three were found to have taken part in a complex plot to acquire and then extort control of the London building from the Vatican.
Torzi was hired by the bureau in 2018 to broker the final sale of the building. As part of the conspiracy, Torzi attacked the secretariat in an attempt to change the terms of the deal and extract an unexpected 15 million euros. , In the process of purchasing.
Mr. Torzi in turn accused Mr. Tirabassi and Mr. Crasso of threatening him and his family and demanded that control of the building be handed over directly to them rather than to the Vatican.
In his conviction, which is currently under appeal, Cardinal Becciu was sentenced to five years and six months in prison, a fine of 8,000 euros (approximately $8,700), and permanent disqualification from holding public office.
The ruling said that despite new regulations issued by Pope Francis requiring cardinals living in the Vatican to pay market prices for accommodation, he legally rented a privileged apartment in the Palazzo Santuffizio. continues to reside in.
Raffaele Mincione was sentenced to five years in prison, fined 8,000 euros (approximately 870,000 yen), and permanently disqualified from holding public office.
Italian businessman Gianluigi Torzi was sentenced to six years in prison, fined 6,000 euros (approximately $6,500) and permanently disqualified from holding public office. Torzi now faces extradition to Italy on separate charges of financial crimes.
The full text of the final judgment has now been deposited by the judge, and appeals by the various defendants will proceed, although hearings are unlikely to begin before the new year.
