Cardinal convicted of fraud in Vatican court case protests his innocence

A Catholic cardinal who was found guilty of embezzlement and fraud for misusing Vatican funds has insisted he did nothing wrong, as he and others convicted in the criminal case filed their appeals.

Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu told Italian television on Monday that he relied on expert advice when he approved an initial $200mn investment in a London office building that is at the centre of the biggest financial scandal to hit the Catholic church in decades.

Becciu, once one of the most powerful figures in the Holy See who oversaw the management of Vatican funds from 2011 to 2018, was sentenced to five years and six months in jail on Saturday after a police investigation into the alleged misuse of church money.

“I want to shout to the world that I am innocent, that I absolutely did not commit these crimes of which I am accused,” said Becciu, in his first public comments since his conviction in the Vatican’s criminal court.

He also said the Vatican, the world’s smallest sovereign state, had been investing in European prime property for more than a century.

Becciu added he was advised by experts that the London property deal would also be “of great benefit to the Holy See”. 

“You may call them speculative operations, but this was the tradition of the Holy See,” he added. “As early as 1929 . . . the Holy See started investing in buildings — London, Paris, Rome. It’s a tradition the Holy See has had.”

The Vatican realised a loss of £100mn in 2022 when it sold the London office building in Knightsbridge to private equity group Bain Capital for £186mn, after spending a total of £300mn to secure full ownership of the property between 2014 and 2018.

By the time of the sale, the project had become an embarrassing symbol of the Holy See’s opaque, inept financial management. After being elevated to the papacy in 2013 Pope Francis had vowed to clean up the Catholic church’s scandal-tainted finances and bring greater accountability.

At 60 Sloane Avenue the Holy See had initially taken a minority stake in a fund that was planning to convert the Knightsbridge office building into luxury apartments — but that had not yet received planning permission to do so.

The Holy See later spent more to take full control of the property from the fund, which had been founded by Raffaele Mincione, a London-based Italian businessman.

Becciu is the first cardinal ever tried in the Vatican’s criminal court. Six other people linked to the London property transaction, including Mincione, Vatican officials and independent financial advisers, were convicted of various forms of wrongdoing and sentenced to jail. All are now appealing, according to lawyers.

The case has been seen as a test of the Vatican’s ability to ensure a fair trial given the pope’s absolute power. The official Vatican News argued that the verdicts in the case — which included one cleric being acquitted — highlighted the court’s respect for defendants’ rights.

Few of those convicted are expected to be jailed soon, with experts saying the lengthy appeals process could take years.