10 people charged in Vatican international financial scandal
(The AEGIS Alliance) – They failed to remember the 11th commandment: Thou shalt not spend $400 million to purchase a property in London.
Authorities of the Vatican have charged 10 individuals Saturday, consisting of a high-level cardinal as well as an Italian broker, along with monetary criminal offenses consisting of embezzlement, extortion, money laundering, and fraud.
The allegations are mainly pertaining to the purchase of a single property at 60 Sloane Avenue in the main part of London that the Vatican spent a minimum of $400 million for, according to the Associated Press.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu is implicated in hampering with the purchase to benefit him personally, the Vatican News Agency wrote. Becciu is facing charges of embezzlement, misuse of office, and subordination.
Becciu held a lot of power in the Vatican’s financial system up until Pope Francis fired him in 2020 for purportedly providing his brother with a lot of money from the Vatican.
Prosecutors with the Vatican pointed out that Italian broker Gianluigi Torzi had been the driving power responsible for the excessively high purchase and asserted he extorted the Catholic church for $15 million while working out a deal to buy the building. Torzi is facing charges of extortion, fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering.
Torzi has already had a warrant out for his arrest on various monetary-related charges in Italy, however, he’s been hanging out in London as Italian authorities seek to extradite him.
Two former financial watchdog leaders for the Vatican, Rene Bruelhart and also Tommaso di Ruzza, have basically been implicated in misbehaving at their jobs in authorizing the purchase. Bruelhart is facing a charge of misusing his official position and Ruzza is being charged with embezzlement.
The guy that marketed the primo London property to the Vatican, Raffaele Mincione, is likewise facing charges in the substantial indictment for fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering.
Becciu was additionally implicated in providing money to one more suspect, Cecilia Marogna. Marogna asserted she spent the $680 million she obtained on liberating captured missionaries throughout Africa, however, prosecutors stated she primarily spent it on luxurious products for herself.
The building purchase in London is the most recent in a list of some other Vatican financial scandals. Pope Francis has made a number of system reform efforts.
Jeffrey Childers – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
