The president of the Vatican Assize Court, Giuseppe Pignatoni, set the trial date for July 27, but the defendants’ lawyers protested, saying they could not prepare so quickly when they had not yet received the formal verdict, the indictment and other documents.
The verb itself is 487 pages long. It was established after an intense two-year investigation into the management of the vast pool of assets belonging to the State Secretariat, the central administration of the Vatican, the majority of which are funded by the deniers of Saint Stone and spent by the faithful. The scandal resulted in losses estimated at several million dollars. Pope Francis urged that the authority to administer these funds be removed from the trust.
Pope Francis fired Cardinal Angelo Besio last year after he donated about $150,000 of Holy See funds to a charity led by his brother.
Photo: Associated Press/Gregorio Borgia
Five former Vatican officials, including Cardinal Angelo Piccio, and two from the Foreign Office, were indicted, along with Italian businessmen who ran the London investment. Vatican prosecutors accuse the prime suspects of stealing millions of dollars from the Holy See in fees and other losses related to financial investments that were funded in large part by donations to the Pope for charity. The suspects denied any wrongdoing.
London investment in the heart of the business
One of the main suspects in the case, Italian realtor Gianluigi Torzi, is accused of extorting more than $20 million from the Vatican to obtain ownership of the London building at the end of 2018. Prosecutors say the Vatican and the Vatican were deceived by Torzi and an Italian lawyer, also indicted on Saturday, By agreeing to the share purchase agreement. The Secretary of State intends to declare herself an injured party in the case.
Torzi explicitly denied the charges against him, saying that they were all the result of a misunderstanding. He is currently in London awaiting an extradition request from the Italian authorities, who are seeking to prosecute him for other financial crimes. His representatives made no comment on Saturday, saying they had not read the indictment.
The turmoil engulfed the alleged candidate for the papal seat, Cardinal Angelo Piccio, who was also indicted. He had helped organize the initial investment in London when he was chief of staff for the Foreign Office. Pope Francis fired him last year after he donated about $150,000 of Holy See funds to a diocesan charity led by Bessio’s brother. Pique insisted in a statement issued on Saturday by his lawyers absolute falsehood
The charges against him. He denounced what he called an “unprecedented media pill” launched against him by the Italian press.
I am the victim of a conspiracy. I have waited so long for the charges against me so that I can quickly dismiss them and prove my absolute innocence to all.
Tomasso di Ruzza and René Bruelhart, two former senior officials of the Financial Information Authority (AIF), the financial constable of the Holy See, charged with abuse of power. According to Vatican News, prosecutors are blaming them To neglect the anomalies of the London operation
, which were immediately notified to them.
Both defended their work. The first lawyer insisted on his client He always acts with the utmost respect for the law and his professional duties, in the exclusive interest of the Holy See
. The second claimed that the accusation against him was A procedural error will be overturned by the Vatican’s justice services
Once he expresses his defense.
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