Vatican trial wraps-up after 2 and a half years and 85 hearings

By Salvatore Cernuzio 

Twenty-nine months, 85 hearings, an average of over 600 hours spent in Court, the testimonies of 69 witnesses, 12,4563 printed and electronic pages and 2,479,062 files presented by the prosecution, 20,150 pages with attachments deposited by the defence, as well as 48,731 presented by civil parties. The trial, defined as the century trial, is the longest and most elaborate ever held within the Vatican walls and has garnered significant media attention, especially from the anglophone press. This attention has persisted throughout the 85 hearings, held, sometimes, five or six times a month - even at the height of summer - and reignited by various plot twists and dramatic turns that marked and even altered the course of events.

Lengthy investigation 

The trial was preceded by a lengthy and detailed investigation initiated by the then Promoter of Justice, Gian Piero Milano, and his deputy Alessandro Diddi (subsequently appointed Promoter). It unfolded through the investigations of the Vatican Gendarmerie, with the help of four rescripts by the Pope published in the course of the proceedings, expanding the powers of the prosecutors. The process involved a vast number of documents and seized electronic devices, along with interrogations of witnesses. All of this culminated in a 487-page indictment.

Space and Listening 

The trial truly began seven months and one day later, on March 1, 2022, leaving ample room for preliminary motions that dominated the first eight hearings according to instructions by the Vatican Court, which never rejected procedural disputes, rebuttals, or nullities. This trial, characterized by the "space and listening" granted to all, seems to echo the words engraved in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which celebrates its 75th anniversary: "Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him."

Verdict 

The trial concludes on the afternoon of Saturday, December 16. Between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. local time, as announced in the last hearing on Tuesday, by the President of the Court, Giuseppe Pignatone, who will read the verdict. It will thus be revealed whether the ten defendants will be convicted or acquitted.

14 defendants and 49 charges 

Fourteen defendants face 49 charges; they include four companies and ten individuals. The companies are Logsic Humitarne Dejavnosti based in Slovenia; Prestige Family Office Sa; Sogenel Capital Investment, and HP Finance LLC. The latter three are linked to Enrico Crasso, a financial consultant to the Vatican Secretariat of State for about twenty years; the first is owned by Cecilia Marogna, the Sardinian manager accused of receiving funds from the Holy See for the release of Catholic hostages held by Islamic terrorists and then spending them on luxury travel and goods. She faces embezzlement charges. Crasso is accused of embezzlement, corruption, extortion, money laundering, self-laundering, fraud, abuse of office, material forgery of a public deed committed by a private individual, and private document forgery.

Among the defendants are René Brülhart and Tommaso Di Ruzza, former president and former director of AIF (Financial Information Authority, now ASIF), accused of abuse of office and embezzlement by the former, and embezzlement, abuse of office, and violation of office secrecy by the latter. Monsignor Mauro Carlino, personal secretary to two Substitutes (extortion and abuse of office); financier Raffaele Mincione (embezzlement, fraud, abuse of office, misappropriation, and self-laundering); lawyer Nicola Squillace (fraud, misappropriation, money laundering, and self-laundering); Fabrizio Tirabassi, former employee of the Secretariat of State (corruption, extortion, embezzlement, fraud, and abuse of office); broker Gianluigi Torzi (extortion, embezzlement, fraud, misappropriation, money laundering, and self-laundering). Many of these offences are alleged to have been committed in collusion.

Finally, the list of defendants includes Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, former Substitute of the Secretariat of State, who is being tried, as legally required, for embezzlement, abuse of office, and subornation.

Sale of the London property

Most of the alleged crimes took place during the sale of a luxury property on Sloane Avenue, in the heart of London, by the Secretariat of State. According to the prosecution, this highly speculative operation resulted in a loss of at least €139 million for the Vatican, following a purchase for £350 million and a resale for less than £186 million. The Secretariat of State has become a Civil Party and has claimed €117.818 million in damages. This is accompanied by compensation claims from the four other Civil Parties in the trial: IOR, which has requested €207.987,494 million; APSA, €270.777,495 million; ASIF and Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, former head of the administrative office of the Secretariat of State, both of whom defer to the equitable assessment of the judging panel for the quantification of damages.

According to the prosecution's reconstruction, the investment was initiated after the failure of an oil operation in Angola proposed by Becciu but never realized. From there, the transition to the Sloane Avenue palace took place in a whirlwind of funds, transactions, fees, commissions, agreements made without – it seems – the authorization of superiors, involvement of foreign banks, and the use of risky financial instruments. According to the plaintiffs, the investment opened the doors to the "money changers," while the defendants argue that there was no criminal action, only "normal" transactions for those familiar with the financial world. To conclude the London affair, there is also the alleged extortion by Torzi, the broker, who demanded €15 million from the Secretariat of State to relinquish voting rights that allowed him to keep effective control of the property deal.

The Sardinia and Marogna “affairs”

In addition to the "London affair," the trial also includes the "Sardinia affair" and the "Marogna affair," both involving Cardinal Becciu. The first concerns the payment of €125,000 from the funds of the Secretariat of State to an account associated with the local Ozieri Caritas office in Sardinia, and with Spes, a cooperative headed by one of the cardinal's brothers, for the purchase and restoration of a bakery aimed at employing marginalized youth. The money is reportedly still in the Diocese's coffers. The "Marogna affair" refers to the aforementioned payment of €575,000 to Cecilia Marogna, presented by Italian secret services and hired as an expert in diplomatic matters to help, through a British intelligence company, the Holy See to seek the release of the Colombian nun, Gloria Cecilia Narváez, who was kidnapped by jihadists in Mali. As mentioned, Marogna spent this money on the purchase of furniture, luxury bags and shoes, as well as luxury hotels, but she rejected all charges. On his part, the cardinal has always claimed to have been "deceived" by the woman and that the entire diplomatic operation was authorized and approved by the Pope, initially covered by pontifical secrecy. The Promoter, Diddi, and the Civil Parties have noted that Marogna continued to associate with the cardinal and his family even after the scandal erupted.

Requests of the Promoter of Justice 

For the cardinal, the Promoter of Justice has requested in his closing arguments a sentence of seven years and 3 months of imprisonment, in addition to a fine of €10,329 and the perpetual ban from public office. For Monsignor Carlino, 5 years and 4 months of imprisonment, perpetual ban, and a fine of €8,800; for Crasso, 9 years and 9 months, perpetual ban, and a fine of €18,000; for Tommaso Di Ruzza, 4 years and 3 months, temporary ban, and a fine of €9,600; for Cecilia Marogna, 4 years and 8 months of imprisonment, perpetual ban from public office, and a fine of €10,329; for Raffaele Mincione, 11 years and 5 months, perpetual ban, and €15,450; for Nicola Squillace, 6 years of imprisonment, suspension from professional practice, and a fine of €12,500; for Fabrizio Tirabassi, 13 years and 3 months, perpetual ban, and €18,750; for Gianluigi Torzi, 7 years and 6 months of imprisonment, perpetual ban, and €9,000; for René Brülhart, 3 years and 8 months of imprisonment, temporary ban, and €10,329 fine. Added to this are a series of confiscations, totalling several million euros, and the sentences requested for the companies that are involved. The Vatican Court's decision on all these requests will be known in the coming hours.